The Unexpected II
by FAKEmpregnator
Summary: The 2nd trimester. Dee and Ryo continue to prepare for the blessed event by planning a wedding. They also encounter obstacles big and small, such as new clothing, relatives, and one of the most difficult cases they ever had. Warning: MPREG.
1. Indecision

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 1

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee, Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Summary: Starts off 3 weeks after "The Unexpected I". Planning a wedding is not as easy as Ryo and Dee first thought.

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

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**January 21, 2006**

Dee sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, staring in disbelief at the packet Ryo had left for him. The services the Waldorf-Astoria offered in their wedding package, included wedding ceremony, reception hall, catering and even offered an in-house photographer. He had to admit that an atrium was a good place for the ceremony. He would have preferred an outdoor ceremony, but if he wanted to get married before he would start bulging out of his wedding suit, it would be too cold. In fact, he had given Ryo a cut off date of March 26th to get married. Sooner would be better.

In the past week, Dee found himself wishing more and more that they had run off to Las Vegas on Christmas day. He let out a heavy sigh. Since then, things got complicated. It was already the end of January and they were no closer to having anything firmed for the wedding, including a wedding date.

He could not entirely blame Ryo for letting his family place ideas in his head for what type of wedding his intended wanted lately. Dee was able to be talked out of eloping easily because he did want a wedding. Dee wanted for him and Ryo to stand up before their families and friends and pledge their love and commitment to each other.

Lately, the only things they agreed on were the very basics. Who their best man would be, who was to be in the wedding party. Almost agreed – they both wanted the same people, but Ryo seemed to feel they needed a few more in their wedding party. Ryo explained how he wanted all the men in matching tuxedoes and the women in matching gowns, which were to be selected by them. Dee doubted they would have the time to sort out those details.

Their simple wedding had somehow blossomed into a major social event. Dee had maybe 20, 25 at the most, guests on his side. There were those they both knew or worked with. Then there was Ryo's guest list. Dee was certain most of Ryo's family would not show, but there were still many friends of the family. Most of the friends were successful in the art world and would have no problem with Ryo marrying a man. The more Dee thought about it, the more he knew he originally saw the total guests to attend to be those at the New Year's Eve party plus a few others who could not make it. The number of total people listed on the page in a binder Ryo made up especially for wedding planning overwhelmed Dee.

Dee sighed, looking at the portfolio again and suddenly pushed it to the side. There were others in a pile just like that one – all were places where rich people married. Even if through the years, Dee had reached the point where financially he was comfortable and not living paycheck to paycheck, he was not rich. Far from it. Ryo had more money than he had because of his family, but Ryo was not rich either. Very upper middle class could describe Ryo's holdings. Most of his parents assets were frozen because of the circumstances of their deaths. Ryo had inherited a fraction of what he should have. However the majority of the others in Ryo's family had done very well and could be called rich.

It was Elena who started to turn simple into grandiose. She's the one who started to talk about a large scale wedding. At first Ryo balked, but in the last week he had changed his mind rapidly. Dee picked up another portfolio for some estate house on Long Island used for special functions. He tossed that folder aside without giving it a second glance, his irritation growing.

He stood up from the table to make some tea and get a yogurt. Leaning against the counter near the stove, he ate his yogurt, while wondering what had happened. They had pretty much been in agreement that the ceremony would be outdoors or in a small chapel. Dee wanted a Christian ceremony, preferably Catholic. Not being a particularly religious man himself, Ryo did not care one way or another and had originally allowed Dee to choose the basis for the ceremony. Within the last week, they had a few arguments because of the cost of the wedding, the extravagant things Ryo decided they had to have.

What had happened to the spend thrifty, practical man Ryo was known to be? Dee could not understand how he had found himself as the one taking the stand that they could not afford it. And if somehow they could, Dee would rather use the money toward the baby and Bikky, assuring their children were provided for comfortably.

Dee really did not want to think about it, but the unfortunate fact was before they all knew it, Bikky would be applying to colleges. At least Dee and Ryo hoped he would be able to get accepted into a college. The one thing both men did not want to see would be Bikky not going to college only because he could not afford it.

He finished the yogurt and absently rubbed the swell of his abdomen under his sweat pants. In the weeks since his settling, the slight bump gave way to a gentle curve. He was still able to conceal it depending on how he dressed. Whenever he looked in the mirror with no top on, there was no denying he was pregnant.

He lifted his white baggy tee-shirt to run his hand along the curve, once again awed that there was a tiny life that Ryo and he had created. The rest of the pregnancy could not go fast enough for him. Not only to get past the being pregnant part, but he was anxious to see their baby, hold him or her in his arms. The pregnancy had taken both him and Ryo by complete surprise. Since then, both men started to feel as if it had to happen. They both wanted this baby.

A couple of weeks earlier Dee had decided he wanted to know the baby's sex beforehand. From the start, Ryo made it clear the choice would be Dee's. He'd accept whatever Dee decided. A few days later, Dee had admitted there was no way he would wait until the baby's birth to find out. He wanted to know if the baby growing inside him was a girl or a boy. He wanted them to pick a name and use it when referring to the baby, or when talking to the baby. Ryo had already started to talk to his swelling belly as they cuddled. Dee realized he did quite a bit of talking himself, especially when he was alone. They needed to know what they were having and give the growing fetus an identity already.

Currently Ryo was out with his Elena, looking over nursery furniture. Dee fumed about that. Earlier he felt too ill to care. Now thinking about it, Ryo had gone out with his aunt while Dee rested to get an idea of what to register for and pick out the nursery items. Ryo told Dee that one day soon, he'd take Dee to look over the ones Ryo liked to choose.

Now it grated on Dee.

By the time Ryo returned, without Elena, who had gone home after dropping her nephew off, Dee was beyond merely fuming.

He had gone through each portfolio long enough to question Ryo's sanity. Simple and beautiful Dee had kept saying. There was nothing simple about the places Ryo wanted Dee to choose from.

Another thing that irked Dee. They were supposed to select places together, then make a final decision. They had started to do that, but then Elena started to show Ryo her idea of what a wedding should be. When it came to narrowing down the selections Dee and Ryo had chosen, Ryo suddenly announced he did not like any of them. That's when the madness started.

Dee could not deny the wedding would be beautiful in any of those places he was supposed to choose from. He caught himself actually reading the information to the Hudson Castle. He stopped himself, because he wanted to be married in New York City, preferably Manhattan. To appease Ryo, Dee made two main piles: one for out of the city locations and the other for within the city locations. He wanted the out of the city pile to be gone the next day. Anything in Long Island and Westchester County was out. If they were out, then anything in Upstate or Connecticut was definitely out.

Dee was sitting on the couch, nibbling on yogurt Pocky when Ryo entered the living room. He placed a new stack of flyers and folders on the coffee table and sat next to Dee, kissing him in greeting.

Mad as he was, Dee found he could not resist the kiss.

Resting his head against Dee's, Ryo asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Dee replied. He had been feeling fine for hours.

"Where's Biks?"

"Carol's. I gave him money so they could go to the movies. They're going to be at her place for a bit after."

Ryo nodded. "As happy as he is about things, I guess talking about weddings and nurseries bore him."

Dee shrugged. "A little."

Ryo kissed Dee again and indicated the stack on the coffee table. 'You should see some of the nursery sets, Dee," he said, excitement in his voice. "Too bad you couldn't go."

Dee shrugged again, pulling away from Ryo to stand. When Ryo looked up, Dee said, "Dinner is about ready. I need to look in on it."

"You didn't have to, Dee," Ryo said, getting up to follow him into the kitchen.

"Don't worry. I told you, I'm fine." As he lifted the lid to stir the stew, he added, "If you had waited for a bit, you would have known I was feeling better shortly after you left."

"I wanted to wait, but Elena didn't have much time, and you know she made the trip here to help us select baby furniture."

"Yes, of course. Because two grown men can't do that on their own," Dee grumbled. "Besides, everyone knows you can't possibly shop for a baby in five hours."

"Dee," Ryo sighed patiently.

"I asked you to wait, but no!" Dee rambled on. "Because if you don't go today, when our baby is born in July, it won't have a place to sleep or clothes to wear."

"C'mon, Dee. You know I don't think that. It was just getting ideas," Ryo replied, keeping his voice level. Dee was in a mood. They had been showing up quite frequently in the last two weeks, especially in the last.

Unlike in a female pregnancy when mood swings usually would wind down by the second trimester, for Carriers they would continue. Ryo learned how into the second trimester, they could go away for a while and suddenly return. There was no pattern for it. He just had to practice patience, understanding, and how to gauge them for the best way to handle a situation.

He learned very quickly to let Dee ramble on and then attempt to sincerely soothe him. If Dee felt Ryo was just placating him to quiet him down, it would be worse. Ryo found that out too when he almost found himself sleeping in the guest room 4 nights ago.

Dee snorted. More ideas for him to choose from. If the choices for the baby were anything like the wedding, Dee felt he would scream.

Ryo came up behind him. As Dee continued to stir the stew. Ryo started to rub his back soothingly. "Whenever you're ready, you can narrow down what we're getting for the nursery."

Dee gritted his teeth. Damn, if only Ryo had kept his mouth shut, he thought. What his lover was doing felt good. Ryo always seemed to know just the right areas to give attention to. "Whatever," he mumbled, placing the stirring spoon on a holder and covering the pot.

He turned to find himself in Ryo's arms. His sometimes oblivious partner was putting Dee's mood down as grumpiness and irritability caused by pregnancy. Dee felt he had a reason to be grumpy and irritable in the last week.

First the wedding was taken out of his control, now buying items for the baby. His baby – the one he was carrying. As if being more or less bound to a desk for the last 3 weeks at work was not enough to be grumpy about.

"Look, I know your aunt means well and I'm glad she's so excited, but…." Dee shrugged. "I need some control, Ryo."

"Dee, she's only helping us. The final choices will be up to us. How is that not having control?"

"Plenty." When Ryo gave him an annoyed look, he let out a heavy sigh. "You know what? Suddenly I don't feel so good." He leaned over to lightly kiss Ryo. "Enjoy dinner. I'm going to bed."

Annoyance changed to concern. "Again? At this time of the night?"

Dee nodded wearily, clamping down on his irritability. They had five arguments in the past four days. He did not feel like arguing again. He did not want to fight with Ryo.

Ryo pulled Dee into his arms again, caressing the curve of Dee's abdomen through the cotton of his tee-shirt. "Did you eat anything today? Healthy, that is."

"Yeah. I ate, healthy and junk." He gave Ryo a small grin that he actually felt. "We're going to need more yogurt."

"No worries. I'll go out tonight after dinner and get some for you." Ryo smiled lovingly at Dee. "And I'll be waking you up in a few hours and make sure you eat a little. You'll be up again in the middle of the night if you don't."

Dee's mood shifted rapidly. How could he stay mad at Ryo? Especially when his lover was being so kind and loving. Dee realized he was leaning into Ryo's hold on him, whatever sickness he really did feel gone under the tender strokes Ryo's hand made across his stomach and abs.

"Fine," Dee said with a wider grin. "You can wake me up and feed me."

Ryo's smile grew. "Good. Then you know what else?"

Dee rested his head against Ryo's. It was no wonder he was never able to stay mad at Ryo for long. "Hmm?" he asked.

His lips next to Dee's ear, Ryo replied, "Going to sleep right after eating will only make you as sick as if you didn't eat. So I'm going to keep you up for a while after."

Dee knew he did need to rest a bit, or he would have said something about being up already – of another sort.

As if reading his mind, Ryo chuckled. "Later, sexy. You rest now, and we'll play later."

When Ryo's lips searched out Dee's mouth, Dee met him halfway.

Ryo continued to stroke Dee's belly with one hand, while his other played with dark hair as they kissed. Dee realized he was no longer feeling tired or had a need to get away from Ryo. His irritation had melted as Ryo deepened the kiss. _Make love, not war_ Dee once said was his motto. He definitely would rather do more of what he was doing than fighting with the man he loved.

He backed himself against the counter, noticing it was the lower counter. His mind went back to almost three months ago and remembered what other uses there were for that counter. Placing his arms around Ryo's neck, Dee used his lover for leverage as he hoisted himself to sit on the counter. Ryo moved in synch with him as he spread his legs to allow his lover to stand between them, Ryo pressing his body against Dee's. Neither man broke the kiss.

Ryo moved away enough so his hands could move up Dee's shirt. Dee sighed into the current kiss as Ryo's talented fingers once again made him feel loved and desirable, despite the smooth, small but growing pooch where he once sported rippled abs.

"I love you," Ryo intoned into the kiss.

"Love you too," Dee replied, almost breathless.

Ryo's lips left Dee's mouth and started a trail leading down to where his hands were, causing Dee to sigh and softly moan. Ryo kissed his navel before dragging his tongue and lips along the curve. His eyes turned up to gaze at Dee.

"You're beautiful, Dee," Ryo murmured reverently, his lips close to Dee's skin, causing the dark haired man to feel his lover's warm moist breath and the vibration of the sound.

Dee shivered, sighing.

Ryo stood up and kissing Dee's lips softly, said, "I should let you rest."

Dee smiled, placing his lips against Ryo's for another brief kiss. "I'd rest better after you do what we both want you to do." The next kiss was deeper, eliciting a moan from Ryo.

"Here?" Ryo asked.

Dee laughed. "Why not here? Bikky won't be home until later. Not to mention you had the idea first and this is the same spot where our activities lead to…." He covered the hands still caressing his stomach, pressing them more against his skin, "this."

He smiled, remembering what they had done in the kitchen that day – what Ryo had done to him on the very same counter he sat on, and then after a shower and more foreplay, Ryo had done the same to Dee in their bed. His mouth sought out Ryo's for another kiss.

Ryo pulled away from the kiss with a regretful sigh. "Dee, we shouldn't yet. Get some rest first."

"But I'm fine," Dee protested, pulling Ryo to hold him close.

Ryo shook his head and gently pried himself from Dee's grasp. "You think you are, but soon enough though you'll know better. We're not going to go through that again, Dee. Once was enough to learn. Now," he chided softly, pulling Dee from the counter, "rest first. Play time later."

Dee pouted for a reply.

Ryo chuckled. "It's not going to work this time, baby. Go!" He swatted Dee's ass.

Dee yelped a little in surprise, then grinned. "Keep doing that and I'm not going anywhere."

"Then you'd definitely need your rest first," Ryo said, holding his ground. He leaned close to Dee. "Go. Please? Half hour, okay? I'll wake you up. I promise you'll like the way I wake you up."

Dee's grin grew. "Damn, you drive a hard bargain, but deal." He closed the small distance to lightly kiss Ryo, who returned the kiss. "Half hour."

Ryo nodded and smiled as he watched Dee head out of the kitchen.

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While Dee slept, Ryo sat at the table, going through the folders he had been leaving for Dee. He noticed Dee had sorted them into two piles, so he started to look them over to determine the common factor for the sort. Being a detective, it did not take Ryo long to notice one pile had everything outside of New York City and the other was everything within. A little more thought about the man Ryo loved, and he found himself picking up the pile of out of area places to dump in the trash.

"Well, there's still lots of places in the city to choose from," he mused as he stared at the now filled trash bin.

He sighed as he went back to the table, resolving not to favor himself to one location. That was to be Dee's choice. Now that he had one pile to go through, Ryo hoped Dee would stop shifting through it all and finally make some choices.

Dee had told Ryo to pick a wedding date and he suspected some of Dee's crankiness of late was due to his not having one yet. Ryo wondered if Dee realized it was not as easy as that, especially with their time factor. If they were to plan this wedding for a year or so, then they could easily pick a date. Knowing the cut off date Dee had given him, Ryo needed his partner to give him his first and alternate choices for the ceremony, so he could start calling and get a list of what dates were open within the time frame for each place. Next would be to do the same for the location.

Ryo sighed, resolving that at some point that night, he was going to get it across to Dee why they needed selections first to determine a date.

He got up to check the stew, noting it was almost done. He put the flame down low for a slow simmer. Another ten minutes and he would be waking Dee. He would turn it off then, but the stew should be ready and still warm by the time they sat down to eat. After dinner, he would talk to Dee about the wedding. If Dee got into a mood over what Ryo had to say, he decided to use that time to make a run to the store to pick up more yogurt for Dee and anything else they might need.

Dinner was pleasant, and Ryo found he could not mention anything about wedding plans or baby items as they ate. Later, he told himself. Most of dinner was in comfortable silence, sharing glances or smiles as they ate.

Ryo had kept true to his word in waking Dee up. By the time the dark haired man had opened his eyes, he was letting out a moan. Ryo had the top to Dee's silk pajamas open and was kissing along Dee's collar downward to his stomach. Ryo sensed some urgency in Dee, but judged that despite his partner's protests otherwise, Dee was not up to full activities that night. Ryo went down on Dee, then allowed Dee to return the favor. There was still an afterglow between them as they stepped out of a shower which included plenty of kissing and holding.

After dinner, Dee went to relax on the couch, while Ryo made a quick run to the store. He came back to find Dee still watching television from the couch. Ryo made himself comfortable as they watched the movie. Dee had informed him that while he was out, Bikky called asking if he could spend the night at Carol's, and after speaking with Elina, told the boy it would be okay.

Ryo looked up from his spot in the easy chair to notice Dee was no longer watching the TV, his eyes closed and his mouth slack in a way which told Ryo that Dee was dozing off. He got up from his place to sit on the floor next to the couch and watched Dee from that position, a soft smile on his face.

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**January 22, 2006**

Dee sat at the dining room table, reading a book that was a popular title for expectant carriers Vince had suggested he read. He shifted a little, his elbow swiping against the pile of folders and portfolios on wedding venues. He looked up at it for a moment, then going back to his reading, he shoved the pile across the table, out of his way.

Ryo walked into the dining room from the living room, yawning. His hair was still rumpled and he wore pajamas. He spotted Dee at the table and went to him.

"Mornin' baby," he said softly. He leaned over to kiss Dee, who happily returned the kiss. Ryo leaned down further to kiss Dee's belly. "Morning, chibi." He straightened up, running his fingers through Dee's hair. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Dee smiled, leaning back in his chair, leaving the book still open on the table. "Good. I even slept good last night and only one bathroom run." He grinned up at Ryo.

"That's good to hear. For a moment I thought I actually slept through some things." Ryo rubbed Dee's stomach. "You two hungry?" he asked.

Dee let out a contented sigh. "_We_ had a snack, but _we_ were waiting for lazy Papa to wake up before having breakfast." He pulled Ryo down as he leaned up to kiss him again.

Ryo laughed after returning the kiss. "Okay, okay. Papa's gonna cook now," he said merrily. He lightly kissed Dee's lips before going into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

Dee continued to read for a while, before placing his bookmark in the book and closing it. He stood up and stretched, before picking up his mug and going into the kitchen. He smiled as he saw Ryo already at the stove, cooking.

He picked up the teapot from the counter and poured himself more tea. "I made coffee," he said to Ryo, "and I had only one little cup."

Ryo turned his head to smile at Dee before his attention went back to their breakfast.

Dee put down his mug and picked up the one he had waiting for Ryo, filling it with coffee. He went to stand next to Ryo, offering him the mug. "Here baby."

Ryo grinned, turning to face Dee and taking the mug. "Thank you." He leaned to give Dee a kiss to go with his thanks. Then sipping on his coffee, he went back to finishing their breakfast. Not more than a minute later, Ryo asked, "Hey Dee?" He kept his eyes on the griddle.

Dee leaned against the counter, picking up his tea. He took a sip of it, looking over at Ryo. "Hm?"

"You picked a place yet?" Ryo asked.

Dee turned his attention from Ryo, his eyes on the minty liquid in his mug. "Um… still deciding," he replied, uneasily.

Ryo sighed heavily. "It's been two weeks, Dee. What's the problem?"

Dee started to look uncomfortable, quickly taking another sip of tea more for something to do than actually wanting a drink.

"Dee," Ryo cajoled.

Dee shrugged. "I… There's nothing that I particularly like," he replied.

Ryo shook his head, setting the pan aside.

Dee let out a heavy sigh hearing the pan scrap across the burners.

"There's nothing you like?" he heard Ryo ask. Dee could tell Ryo was fighting to sound neutral.

Dee shrugged again.

Ryo sighed and shrugged as well. "Fine," he stated. "We'll think of something." He moved the pan back onto the burner with the flame and went back to making breakfast.

Dee swirled his tea around in his cup, watching the liquid go round and round in the cup as if it was the most fascinating thing he had seen. "Yeah," he muttered, "like more over the top places Elena picks for you." He lifted the mug to his lips and took a long drink.

Ryo's sigh was loud. "Dee, we've been over this. Elena was just giving me ideas."

"Yeah," Dee remarked. "A full stack of them. And I'm supposed to make a choice from one of them. Right. Just ideas." He snorted. "I don't like them, Ryo." His good mood from since he woke up made a sudden dive into grumpy.

"Fine, fine," Ryo remarked, his tone clipped. "We'll think of something."

Dee started to fume a little, his empty right hand starting to rub his tummy in a way that if Ryo looked at him, he would know Dee was upset.

Ryo did not look at Dee, his concentration on the stove, trying not to start slamming things around.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Dee quietly asked, "Don't you think that some of those places are just a little… too much?" He wanted to say he thought all of the places were, but managed to restrain himself.

Ryo raised an eyebrow at Dee's question. "I thought you wanted a big wedding?"

Dee's head moved sharply so he could glare at Ryo. "No. I didn't want a big wedding," he snapped. "We both said, 'small, simple and intimate.' Five hundred fuckin' guests of your family is not intimate!" His voice rose as he spoke on until he was almost shouting.

"Calm down," Ryo warned. He lifted his head to stare at Dee.

Dee turned to set the mug down and place his hands flat on the counter, taking a few deep breaths in hopes to control him temper. "Look Ryo, of course I want a nice wedding. I want a beautiful wedding."

"You're being silly," Ryo stated. "Besides, Rick, Elena and my grandparents are the only people I really want there."

"Oh? Then what's that list in the wedding planner binder under guests? I only have 25 so far. You know, all the names Elena gave of who you just have to invite. I'm not the one being silly here."

"Dee," Ryo said, once again trying to sound patient, barely, "the family's paying for our wedding. I'm obliged to invite them."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dee grumped. He suppressed a growl, and opted for gritting his teeth instead. "Thank goodness most of them will turn it down because they wouldn't be caught dead at a gay wedding."

"Plenty will come anyway." Ryo picked up the spatula and started to shove the food in the pan around. "Besides, I want to show you off."

Dee's head snapped up again. "Oh?" he asked heatedly. "I'm suddenly your prize to dangle off your arm or something?"

"Suddenly?" Ryo asked.

Dee shook his head and took long strides across the kitchen to the cabinet they kept their dishware in. Roughly he started to pull out plates, setting them down on the counter loudly.

"You're the father of my children," Ryo growled, reaching the end of his patience, and his temper now rising. He spoke of Bikky, who Ryo and Dee jointly adopted, and the baby Dee was carrying. "You're going to be my husband. Why can't I show you off?"

Dee turned to face Ryo again, his face flushed from his own rising temper. "Because most of those bastards are probably just laughing at the freak here!" He pointed to himself with a flick of his thumb.

"Jesus Dee! Let's not start this again." He threw the spatula into the pan and quickly went over to Dee. "Baby, calm down. Look, why don't we just hop a plane and go to Vegas?" he asked, placing his hands on Dee's shoulders. "And don't say things like that about yourself. You are not a freak." He smiled up at Dee. "Baby, you're beautiful."

Dee let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry. I know I'm not a freak. But there's people out there and sometimes they let it known what they think about Carriers, especially those who actually dare to carry. I know some of those biddy great aunts of yours will show up and talk. Just like you said they did at your father's funeral."

"So?" Ryo asked. "Let 'em talk. It'll piss them off more if you ignore them." He grinned wickedly up at Dee, mischief twinkling in his dark eyes. "Or smush cake in their faces."

Dee giggled at Ryo's last statement.

Ryo took that opportunity to slip his arms around Dee's waist and hug him. "Besides, think of all the money we'll get from them."

Dee started to toy with the collar of Ryo's pajama top. "Look, I want a wedding, no matter how much easier it would be to run away to Vegas, or even just have a civil ceremony on the same day we get our license. I want a beautiful wedding, with us standing in front of all our friends and some family. But the stuff you want me to choose from is just…." Dee shrugged, at a loss for words for once. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew why. If I did, I'd tell you."

"It's okay, darling," Ryo assured him, wanting Dee to continue to calm down and remain calm. Smiling he leaned over to kiss Dee.

Dee returned the kiss. The kiss was just the brushing of lips, but it was enough to make Dee smile when they moved their heads apart. Dee grinned at Ryo. "If we invite them, do you think we can convince the spinster sisters to include the chibi in their wills?" He chuckled evilly.

Ryo laughed, rubbing his nose against Dee's. "Of course, sweetheart. We'll send out birth announcements to everyone too."

Dee placed his arms around Ryo's waist and rested his head against Ryo's.

Smiling tenderly, Ryo moved one of his arms from Dee's waist to gently rub Dee's belly.

"I wish I wasn't being so foolish and want to get married before I really start showing," Dee said wistfully. "I really really would love an outdoor wedding somewhere. But it's too cold."

Ryo smiled. "Don't worry, love."

Dee moved his head to give Ryo a rueful grin. "I just want to look handsome for you on our wedding day… instead of looking like some bloated cow."

"Baby, for the millionth time, you're not fat. Or bloated, or anything like that."

"I know, I know," Dee said, then sighed. "But cameras add pounds to you. I'm gonna look fat in the pictures."

Ryo shook his head. "Nope." He smiled gently at Dee. "Never."

Dee could not help grinning. "I can't win with you, huh?"

Ryo grinned back. "Nope." He leaned up to kiss Dee. "Now where were you thinking for the wedding?"

Dee shrugged. "I really don't know." He cocked his head a little to the side, still looking at Ryo. "Maybe if I had a date?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I was thinking we'd decide on a place and see what they had open. Then pin down a date," Ryo stated pragmatically.

Once again Dee let out a heavy sigh and pulled away from Ryo a bit. "I need something else than…" he gestured vaguely, "that out there to choose from."

"Hm?" Ryo looked pointedly at him.

"That pile of wasted trees on our dining room table," Dee clarified.

Ryo pressed his lips together, but reached out to run his fingers through Dee's hair.

"And those invitations," Dee added. He shuddered just thinking about them.

Ryo smiled at Dee's reaction. "What about them?"

Dee rolled his eyes. "Look, I want a nice wedding. But I'm not high class, or some society boy, and I don't want to pretend to be. Isn't there something less? And if I see one more frilly, lacey invitation, I'm going to scream. Honestly, baby, you tell me. Is there any one of those invitations that you would pick if you had to?"

Ryo chuckled and shook his head. "I just want you to have the best, since you settled for me."

Dee frowned a little at Ryo's comment. "I didn't 'settle'. Trust me, if any of us did, it's you. But quite honestly, that doesn't matter anymore. We're in this together. Now, I want something that says me and you when someone sees them."

Ryo smiled lovingly at Dee, stroking his partner's cheek. He appeared to be thinking.

"I know!" Dee remarked, laughing. "And invitation with a bullet hole through it." He grinned at Ryo, waiting for the other's reaction.

"Or we could roll it up in a casing," Ryo replied. "How's that?"

Dee laughed wickedly. "How about heart shaped handcuffs on them?"

"There's another idea," Ryo said. "And that would take care of half the required guest list when they have strokes." He pulled Dee close to him again. "Whatever you want for invitations is fine with me, baby."

Dee rested his head on Ryo's shoulder for a few moments before lifting his head to gaze at Ryo. "Well, since we're making nice nice, can I ask you something other than the wedding?"

"Of course, Dee."

"Or should I say, get something off my chest."

"Anything, sweetheart."

Dee took a deep breath. "Yesterday's shopping trip you made with Elena to look at baby things, I said yesterday that I appreciate her wanting to help and all, but…" He let out a long heavy sigh.

"You're still upset?" Ryo looked at Dee in concern.

Dee nodded. "Yeah, I am. This is our baby, Ryo. Yours and mine. It pissed me off yesterday that you two could go out and come back with more crap for me to sort through when all I want is to be part of making the first selection."

Ryo stroked Dee's hair, smiling up at him. "Well, how about we go out tomorrow and I show you what I liked?"

"Only what you liked," Dee stated. "Not what you nodded your head to Elena to keep her calm."

"Of course. Only the things I liked."

"And we're not really shopping now. Okay? Just getting ideas and nothing else."

"That sounds good," Ryo agreed.

Dee moved his head so he could kiss Ryo. "Hey?"

"Yeah?" Ryo asked, licking his lips.

"You want me to help you finish making breakfast?"

Ryo pulled away from Dee in alarm. "Shit! Breakfast!" He turned to look back at the stove and groaned when he saw the charred smoky remains of their breakfast.

Dee's face fell as he looked from the stove to Ryo. "Aw baby. I'm sorry."

Ryo grinned, pulling Dee to him again. "Don't look like that, Dee. It's no big deal. Besides, I think I'll have a more entertaining breakfast now."

"Oh?"

"When is Bikky coming back from Carol's?"

"Before lunch, I told him."

"Good. Come on and help me get some things together." He kissed Dee passionately. "So we can have breakfast in bed."

"Oh?" Dee asked interested. "That sounds like a great idea. Let's go."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Later in the early afternoon, Dee sat in the living room, watching a football game. Part of his mind was on what was going on in the dining room. Ryo was sitting at the table, the pile of recently dejected folders before him as he spoke on the phone to his aunt.

Everything was just fine, Dee reflected. They eat breakfast in bed, had great sex, got out of bed for a snack, and lounged around the apartment, mostly cuddling with Ryo giving Dee's stomach lots of rubs and kisses. Then Elena called, and the more Ryo talked, the more it felt to Dee as if his partner had forgotten everything they discussed in the morning.

"I just don't understand it," Ryo sighed. "He said he doesn't like any of the places. Actually half of them went into the trash last night. Dee wants to get married in the city. Preferably in Manhattan, but Queens or Brooklyn will work for him too." Ryo let out a heavier sigh. "I don't get it. I have at least five places in my mind. No, he did not even start to look through the baby things. He says he wants to make the first and final selections. I know he thinks he has time, but I know Dee. He'll keep putting it off because we have time and before we know it, we'll be rushing like crazy getting the nursery ready."

Dee growled, annoyed that Ryo could speak so casually while insulting him that way to his aunt. He stood up and stretched.

"Hey babe?" he called, poking his head into the dining room. When Ryo looked up, guilt flashing in his dark eyes while still talking on the phone, Dee said, "I'm going out for a walk. Don't know when I'll be back."

Ryo spoke into the phone, "Hold on a moment, Elena." To Dee, he said, "We're going to be leaving soon so we can catch our bus." Ryo looked confused.

Dee understood why. Ryo knew Dee looked forward to their monthly excursions to Edgewater, NJ to shop at the Japanese marketplace there. It was a short ride by bus, which left from the Port Authority. They usually would end up taking a cab home from the Port Authority because they would have so many shopping bags, mostly filled with Japanese groceries. There would also be at least one bag from one of the other shops inside the marketplace.

Dee shook his head. The truth was, he needed to get away from Ryo again before he started shouting again, like he had done earlier that day. He opted for telling Ryo the next nearest truth instead. "I'm not in the mood to see all that sushi and other stuff that I can't eat." He sighed. It sucked when you started to have a craving for something you can't eat.

"Then hang out in the bookstore, or one of the other shops. We do need a new everyday teapot anyway."

"Nah. I'd smell it, want it, can't have it and become a double grouch. You have the list of what I want that I'm allowed to have, and I trust you know me enough to get anything else."

Ryo frowned, studying Dee. "It's going to suck if you can't go at all through the pregnancy because of that."

"Well, I'm hoping another time I'll be in a better mood and not wanting sushi so badly I can almost taste it. Bring back a katsudon bowl and some inari for me, if you don't mind."

"Sure baby. It's going to be lonely without you there." Ryo pouted, his disappointment evident.

Against his better judgment, Dee went into the living room and kissed Ryo. "If we weren't out of things I want and can't get in the city, I'd suggest holding off until a better day." He smiled at Ryo. "You go do the Japanese shopping, and I'll do our Western shopping." He chuckled. "Fitting, if you think about it." He kissed Ryo again and while his mouth was near the handset his lover still held, he said," Hello Elena." He chuckled as he stood up. "I'll see you later tonight."

He left Ryo in the dining room and grabbed his coat on the rack near the door and left their apartment.

Ryo sighed and went back to talking to his aunt, this time actually bitching about why Dee could not choose from such lovely wedding options, while his aunt agreed sympathetically.

Ryo wondered how he was to give Dee the wedding of his dreams with no limits, if Dee was not going to cooperate. He was mad and continued to vent to his aunt.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Bikky was standing outside his room with a frown. He had been listening to Ryo on the phone and then to his fathers talking. He had a bad feeling about things lately and he tried not to get upset.

He was caught still standing in the den when Ryo hung up the phone. Ryo saw him and convinced Bikky to join him, along with Carol, to the marketplace in New Jersey.

---------------------------------------------------------------

As Dee walked around, enjoying being out and getting some exercise and not feeling ill, he got a call on his cell. Noticing the number, he grinned wickedly as he answered. "Hello, my lovely Sea Hag. What brings you to these parts now?"

"You think I can leave you and Ryo alone for long?" Diana asked.

Dee snorted. "Why are you really here?"

"Work, of course. And since I hear I can't pull you from your desk or I might risk the wrath of Ryo, I happen to have a stack of paperwork you might actually enjoy."

Dee chuckled. "I know he's been pretty lenient on me lately, but if Rose hears you gave me a puzzle book to work on during the day, he'll have both our heads."

Diana laughed with Dee. "You wish. You'll see tomorrow. Now how are you doing?"

"As well as I was last week when you called and asked."

"Still full of sass, huh?"

"Ask Ryo and he'll say more than ever. And it's probably true." Dee wasn't sure how much of a joke that was. He knew what his mood had been like in the last couple of weeks.

"How's the wedding planning? I still haven't received an invitation. Are you trying to tell me something, Dee?"

Dee sighed heavily. More than he would have preferred. Another thing this pregnancy was doing to him – it was harder to hide what he want others to know behind his usual façade.

"Dee?" Diana asked in concern. "Is everything okay between you and Ryo?"

"Sure," Dee replied. "It's all wonderful. He treats me well. Most of the time he's dead on with my moods and knows the best action to take. I love him more for it."

"But?"

Dee sighed again. "He keeps missing the main point."

"Which is?" When Dee did not reply, she added, "Dee, you know I'll get it out of you eventually. Now, whatever this is, does he know what he's doing?"

"No," Dee stated. "He's too caught up to notice. I mean, I thought we resolved it this morning, and then later his aunt calls and we're back to square one again."

"Then maybe you need to tell him that?"

"Tell him what?" Dee blurted out. "That I don't want a huge wedding that'll cost more than most people make in a year? That I feel out of place because I'm not comfortable with places the rich hang out, or how they do things?" His voice raised as he spoke.

"Dee, calm down. Look, where are you?"

"I'm on Broadway near 4th Avenue."

"Can you work your way to that quaint little Slavic diner you like on 2nd Avenue?"

"Diana," Dee sighed.

"Come now, sweetie. Sounds like you need some comfort food and a friend. I can give you both. Dee…," she warned when she was met again by silence. "That big macho man act is all good and fine, but you need to let it out sometimes. I swear what happens stays between us."

Dee sighed again. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but yeah… I'll meet you there."

"Goody! And it's because you need to talk to a friend. I can be there in 20 minutes. See you soon."

"Yeah. See you, Diana. And… thanks."

Diana sat back and quietly listened as Dee bitched, moaned, whined and complained about the type of wedding Ryo expected them to have. She did not have to ask too many questions to come to some conclusions. Dee was genuinely upset – mood swings enhanced his emotions at times, but had Dee not been pregnant, he still would have been upset. Dee's biggest reason for objecting was he still felt uncomfortable or overwhelmed in most opulent settings. Diana could see his point. She would not want to be in an uncomfortable situation or deal with any additional feelings of being overwhelmed on her wedding day. Dee would be feeling overwhelmed enough, in a good way, on his wedding day, because he would be marrying his true love. He did not need any additional stress that day, especially with the baby.

She knew Ryo was not being a selfish bastard, as Dee's complaints sometimes inferred him to be. Ryo most probably thought he was doing something nice for Dee by giving his fiancé the means to have a large, extravagant wedding.

Just somewhere the two stopped communicating when it came to the topic.

Dee looked a little flushed as he winded down, finally out of breath, and still looking upset. He looked near to tears, but none fell. Diana stopped a passing waitress to get Dee another glass of water. The two friends sat in silence as Dee sipped his water until their food arrived.

As they started to eat, Diana looked up at her dining companion. "Dee, does Ryo know how you feel?" she asked.

"Of course," Dee snorted. "I told him I didn't want any of those wedding packages."

"Did you tell him why?"

Dee shrugged. "It should be enough to know I didn't like them."

"Other than feeling out of your element, any other reasons to object? Because it seems to me that Ryo is wiling to give you a fairy tale wedding at any cost. Most probably because he feels you deserve it."

Dee placed his fork on the platter to lean on the table, sighing heavily. "I know that," he said softly. "I know he's thinking I'd be thrilled to have a type of wedding I never imagined I'd have. But geez, Diana, the cost! He said he's getting the money from his family through Elena. And it's not a loan. Something about it being his birthright being a MacLean, or something. But the prices…." Dee did look overwhelmed at that moment. "Diana, the cheapest package was $45,000 and going up to over $100,000. And he made it quite clear he was open to add options to the basic packages."

"Sounds grand, Dee," Diana stated, unable to keep herself from smiling. Her own dream wedding, back when she worked it out years ago, had come out to over $100,000.

"It's fine for people like you, Diana. But not for me. Not even for Ryo. Ryo and I are not rich. His family may be, but he isn't. Yes, we're comfortable these days, but we still have a growing teenager, and now this baby on the way. If Ryo could get his hands on that much money, I'd prefer we put it towards the kids. Hell, at this point, I'm all for a no frills wedding in the chamber civil wedding. I'd do it this week, if I could talk Ryo into it."

Diana smiled at Dee, watching as he picked up the stoneware mug and take a sip of his peppermint tea.

"Dee, let me ask you something, but I want you to think about it for a bit before replying."

Dee looked at her over the rim of his mug. "What's that?"

"If you had the money to spare, what is your idea of a dream wedding?"

"Not City Hall," Dee replied immediately, "but I want simple, intimate and… well, comfortable."

"And what exactly is that?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Some chapel or garden or something, I guess. I'd like decent food for the reception and well, I want the reception to be something I know our guests would have fun at."

"A band?" She smiled when Dee nodded automatically. "Cute party favors with Ryo's and your names on them?"

"Yeah." Dee looked up at her, grinning ruefully. "I don't know," he stated. "I never really gave much thought to the details yet. I guess I would like to have a type of wedding that our friends would be talking about for a while after." He shrugged. "Just not so over the top, I guess."

"Well, simple, medium or large, there's going to be a common factor in details. Invitations, flowers, other little details like that." She smiled encouragingly when Dee looked at her with interest. "I'll get you a list of things you need to think about. Dee, I want you to do something. Figure out what it is you like. That will be all options, whether you have the money or not. Be honest to yourself while you're doing it." She smiled at Dee. "In other words, what do you want?"

Dee looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess that's why I hesitate to tell Ryo everything. How can I tell him what I hate if I can't tell him what I like."

"Exactly. Now eat up, handsome. Do you have any other plans today?"

"Well, I'm supposed to go shopping at Pathmark," Dee replied.

"Okay, cutie. I'll make you an offer. Let's go to my place next and I can print out some things you'll need to help pull together an idea of your dream wedding. Then I'll drive you to Pathmark and drive you home."

"Sounds better than hailing a cab with grocery bags," Dee laughed. "Allrighty. We have a deal."

---------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Some general notes based on reviews – Richard will come back later in story. Vince and David will be explored more, but only periodically. As well as a subplot centering on JJ and Drake, but "The Unexpected: The Series" is about Dee and Ryo, and the time as they prepare for the arrival of their baby. Of course, it can't help but touch on how it affects those close to them.

While I try to write things as realistically, and in many cases use places that actually exist, this AU version of FAKE is more a sci-fi set type fic, because of the back story of genetic engineering that created the existence of Carriers. Also note that Carrier will be with a capital 'C' from now on. Don't ask me why – it just felt right. And Settling, along with other terms that will be unique to a Carrier based world.

I am also striving hard to make sure the characters of FAKE stay true, and if they sway off the manga some, it is a natural progression of change and growth because of the circumstances of the story. One thing I do not want to do is 'womanize' Dee. So if anyone feels that's happening, please poke me.

It also seems Ted gets the award for the best overall reaction upon receiving Dee and Ryo's happy news. LOL!

Also some footnotes (if you would call them that):

Inari – is vinegared rice (the type used for sushi) inside fried tofu pockets.

Katsudon – a fried pork cutlet served over rice in a bowl.

Now onto the very fun stuff:

Kitty in the Box: I am so glad you enjoyed "The Unexpected I" so much. Warm fuzzies and big smiles here.

Jade Cade: Many thanks for reviewing each chapter, letting me know how they progress for you. I hope this second story continues what "The Unexpected I" started. I'm also flattered -- peppermint tea and crackers, huh? Personally, I go for the dried garlic toast myself over the melba toast. It's something that just came to mind when Dee first started to eat it in the fic. Being he was in California when he first had it, it just seemed like a California thing to eat. (Now before anyone says anything about stereotying the poor Californians, let me point out that I am a Native New Yorker living in California.) But Dee's drawer is now filled with all sorts of goodies, including some sweet stuff, for a quick fix. He might branch out from peppermint here and there as the story progresses -- we'll see. (grin)

Anime-Love-95 – I tried replying to your PM, but the stupid thing keeps timing out on me. I'll try to get back to you again soon.

Leeren -- (huge grin) It gives me warm fuzzies whenever I read comments like yours. Especially considering this is my first endeavor in the mpreg area – an area I was once leary of in the past.

Nato90 – Here's hoping this story works as well for you as the first.

Bloodrainanitta, Madwren and XZanayu, -- I'm so glad you enjoy the fic!

ForMyLoveKakashi – I hope this continues on the same vein as "The Unexpected I". You and everyone else will be the judge of that. (fingers crossed)

Flyby Stardancer – Another warm fuzzy. It gladdens my heart whenever someone says what you have. Thank you!

Hypergirl321 – Here it is, here it is! Please put the spoon down… ;-) I hope it was worth it!


	2. A New Case

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 2

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**January 23, 2006**

"Dee it's lunch time," Drake stated, looking appalled. He was entering the office Dee shared with Ryo, JJ trailing behind him. "Why are you still working?"

The thoughtful look on Dee's face smoothed out as he looked up at his friends. "Technically, it's lunch when Ryo and Ted come back from the lunch run," he remarked with a smirk.

"So you work?" JJ asked. "Boy, this baby has you all out of whack." He sat down in a chair next to Dee's desk. His eyes opened in amazement. "Calla lilies? Orchids? Don't tell me your latest case is a florist hit," he laughed.

Drake pulled up a chair that was near Ryo's desk to sit next to his partner, and picked up a sheet of paper from the pile strewn across Dee's desk. "Nah. Not florist. I'd say wedding planner. Invitations, Dee?" He held up the paper that had color printouts of several styles of invitations.

"C'mon guys. Give me a break. I'm trying to get this done before Ryo get back," Dee stated, looking at his computer monitor.

"Dee, if you think you can plan an entire wedding in the time it takes Ryo to pick up lunch from the place around the corner, I'd say your brain is fried," JJ said.

Dee chuckled. "Not a whole wedding, you moron. I'm just getting ideas."

"I thought Ryo was in on the planning. Especially with all those places he's been looking at," Drake remarked. He gave Dee an amused smile.

"That's the problem," Dee said with a sigh.

"There's a problem with having your wedding reception at the Four Seasons?" JJ asked amazed.

Dee nodded. "Maybe not for you, but yeah, it is to me. But I can't tell Ryo that until I know what it is I really want. So that's what I'm doing."

"Oh." JJ leaned on Dee's desk, looking over the printouts carefully. "So any idea where you want to get married?" he asked.

"In New York," Dee replied. "Other than that…. I'm not sure. I'd love outdoors, but it will be too cold. And no, I don't want to wait until after the baby is born. That's way too long a wait. It'll be bad enough just waiting for the baby to be born. I'd go apeshit if there was also a wedding at some point after that."

Drake smirked, waving the paper he still held in his hand. "Why wait that long? Late spring/early summer would be just perfect for a garden wedding. And it would be time enough before the baby is born."

Dee sighed again, finally giving both his friends his attention. "Because I want to look halfway decent in my wedding photos. Not all bloated and swollen and looking like a cow next to Ryo," was Dee's immediate response.

Drake chuckled at Dee's mounting distress. "You know what Ryo would say about that, don't you?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah yeah. I know. Give him another three months, then we'll see." Dee opened his desk drawer to take out a bag of chocolate chunk cookies.

Drake laughed knowingly, while JJ gently nudged Drake in the ribs. The smaller man looked amused.

JJ moved closer to Dee. "Speaking of, I didn't get a chance to say hello to my little niece or nephew."

Dee groaned. "Honestly, JJ. Ryo's gonna start getting jealous again." He leaned back in his chair, nibbling on a cookie. "Now, can't you just wave to the chibi?"

JJ chuckled, leaning even closer to Dee. "Hi there little one," he stated, waving at Dee's belly.

Drake laughed. "Honestly, JJ."

"But I'm so jealous," JJ remarked.

Drake sighed. "I thought we went over this. Several times, since New Year's."

"Yeah, we did. I remember. Dee and Ryo are together. Dee's having Ryo's baby, they're getting married, blah blah blah. I meant I'm jealous because I want to have a little JJ chibi."

Dee snorted. "I feel I need to point out that the little JJ chibi will have no mix of me there."

"Of course not!" JJ remarked. "Because you're having a little Dee and Ryo chibi."

Dee smiled softly. "Yeah, I am."

Drake looked up toward the door. "I think I hear them, Dee."

Quickly Dee gathered his papers and shoved them into a folder. He had just placed the folder in a desk drawer as Ryo and Ted entered.

"Hey, somebody call my partner and tell him to get here before his lunch is gone," Ted stated as he set the bags he carried on Dee's desk.

Ryo put his bags down next to the ones Ted set, and leaned over to briefly kiss Dee. "Are you hungry?" he asked, smiling at Dee.

Dee nodded.

Ryo grinned wickedly, still staring down at Dee. "So you didn't kill your appetite with cookies?"

"Never," Dee exclaimed indignantly.

Drake, JJ and Ted laughed, knowing how true that was. Dee could eat cookies all he wanted and still be hungry for lunch.

Drake slyly indicated the package of cookies still on Dee's desk.

Ryo laughed. "Yeah, I noticed. That's why I asked. And don't pout, Dee." He kissed Dee again, then grabbed the package to put back in the supply drawer. He busied himself setting out his partner's lunch which Ted already had out of the bag.

Marty entered the office. "I smell lunch."

"Yeah, you do," Ted replied, sitting down to eat his. "Yours is there, partner. Next to Dee." He smirked.

"I trust Ryo will keep it safe for me," Marty remarked, going to the desk. "Unlike some people, I know, _partner._" He collected his lunch and settled with Ted at Ryo's desk.

JJ passed Drake his partner's burger and fries. "Ted's right. Here, you better grab it quick," he said, taking his own lunch. "Before Dee eats it."

"Hey!" Dee fumed.

Ryo sat on the corner of Dee's desk. He laughed, shaking his head affectionately.

"Don't start, Ryo," Dee warned.

"I wouldn't think of it," Ryo remarked, then bit into his burger.

Dee gave Ryo a mild glare then started on his lunch, ignoring the snickering going around the office.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

After work, Dee and Ryo set out to look at some baby items together. The first stop was a small boutique on Madison Avenue in the upper 70's. Dee balked at the prices. Indulgently he walked through the store, looking at various items. After he picked up a pair of tiny socks that cost $26, he turned to Ryo. "So what do you like here?" he asked. He put the socks back with a grimace.

Ryo shrugged. "I thought I did on Saturday, but now I'm not so sure."

"Trying to decide if it was you or Elena who liked it?"

Ryo nodded, looking rueful.

"So what did Elena like?"

Ryo made a gesture to indicate the store. He looked at Dee and they both laughed.

Dee took Ryo's hand and held it. "Ryo, I want nice things for our baby, but this is more than we can afford. It's going to be expensive enough getting everything we need. And we still have Bikky's expenses. Since when did being on the school basketball team become so friggin' expensive? I don't remember Penguin having to put out money except for my uniform and shoes."

Ryo nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I thought Mom and Dad paid enough for the soccer and baseball teams, but it seems like nothing compared to keeping Biks on the basketball team."

Dee sighed. "Imagine what we'll be paying by the time the chibi is ready to play team sports."

Ryo covered the hand holding his with his other hand. "Look babe. How about we find a Babies-R-Us or something like that. I know we won't end up having to buy everything ourselves, but we can't assume what we will get as gifts."

Dee nodded. "Sounds right. Besides, at this point I can only give a general idea. I won't be able to really decide on anything until we know if it's a girl or a boy."

Ryo rubbed his thumb lightly across Dee's hand. "General idea for now," he agreed. "Ooh, we better start moving. The man behind the counter is eyeing us like we're suspects."

Dee snorted. "As if I can fit a crib in my pocket," he said, rolling his eyes, then laughed. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Their shopping trip was successful. They went to a couple of larger stores that offered variety and quality. Left on their own to decide, and talking to sales clerks, they had solid ideas of what they would choose from for final selections on the basic large items.

More important to Dee was every time he pointed out something he liked, Ryo ohhed, when Ryo showed him something, he ahhed.

If only it would be so easy for their wedding.

Somehow despite Dee being three months, they came home with two packages of newborn undershirts. One package was green and said, "I LOVE PAPA" and the other in yellow, declaring, "I LOVE DADDY". A little pair of booties also found its way into their purchase.

Dee was delighted their expedition had gone so well. After dinner, they sat in the living room with some lists from both packets the men had received during Dee's first doctor visit and made some notes to reference later.

As much fun as Ryo had, he was regretting their next major shopping trip. He watched as Dee went into their bedroom. He shook his head, slightly amused. When they got home, Dee rushed out of his work clothes and into a pair of sweats he had bought the week before. Ryo knew Dee could not keep wearing clothing a couple of sizes larger than his normal size. His fiance was still wearing the same work clothes, but Ryo knew they were getting tighter on Dee. Ryo learned the hard way the week before that Carrier clothes was a sensitive subject around Dee. To Dee, giving into wearing those clothes was admitting he was 'getting fat'. It amazed Ryo how Dee could be so into the pregnancy in many ways, yet kicking and fighting in others.

Dee returned with his laptop and sat next to Ryo on the couch. Bikky was sitting on the floor, talking to Ryo when Dee returned. It was time for them to watch a movie. Dee sitting with his laptop was nothing new, as he usually played around with some graphic art during the time, or surfed the web. Ryo noticed of late, Dee's web surfing was on sites for expectant Carriers. When something caught his interest, Dee would start talking about it with Ryo, and most times including Bikky. Yet Dee would manage to also watch the movie, and join in talk about it as they watched.

That was how they once again settled into a routine family evening.

Dee glanced over to assure Ryo was paying attention to the movie and shifted ever so slightly so Ryo could not see the screen. He went to the email he noticed from JJ with some links the platinum haired detective thought Dee would be interested to at least look at, if nothing else.

Dee checked out some of the links and was impressed with JJ's selections. There were links for both reception venues and for the ceremony, with a few that held both. Most of the places were not so high priced as what Ryo expected Dee to choose from, but they had their own charm and elegance. It was more than Dee thought he might settle for, but he did not feel himself start to break out in cold sweats like he did looking at Elena's choices.

There were other links to wedding sites with ideas for the details. Dee already had a good idea of what flowers he would like for the wedding. Thankfully there were only a few favorites that he did not share with Ryo, or Ryo with him. It would be easy enough to assure they both had their favorite flowers included. Dee felt himself breathe easier. They had friends who were willing to help pull the wedding together. It started to feel as if they could be married by the deadline Dee had picked. Dee started to take notes and narrow his selection.

The Chelsea Piers on the West Side held the most interest for Dee, liking both the Lighthouse and Pier 60. It was possible they could have the ceremony and reception in the same place or at least in the same area. He had been to Chelsea Piers many times to play basketball and for exercise, but he never considered they had restaurants nice enough to be wedding venues. He wondered what other options they might have for a ceremony there. Dee knew he had to take a trip there to check it out for himself, making the trip with his mind not on basketball or racquetball.

Once finished with the links, he felt much better about the wedding. He was certain Ryo would love his selections and they could go from there. He set the laptop aside and snuggled closer to Ryo, making himself comfortable, his head on Ryo's shoulder.

By the end of the movie, Dee was sleeping lightly with his head on Ryo's lap. Ryo ran his fingers softly through Dee's hair, occasionally smiling down at his loved one. His other hand rested on the swell of Dee's stomach. Bikky was getting ready for bed. Ryo decided they should do the same. Dee was sleeping more at nights in the last week or so, and Ryo was glad for it. Dee needed his rest. Calling it an early night seemed like a good idea.

He woke Dee up by stroking his stomach. Dark green eyes fluttered open and looked up at Ryo. Dee smiled upon seeing Ryo looking down at him, a tender look on his face.

It was not much longer after that they found themselves in bed, softly caressing and stroking as they kissed. When they made love that night, it was gentle and tender before Dee fell asleep in Ryo's arms. As usual lately, Ryo stayed up a little longer, enjoying watching Dee sleep before his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**January 24, 2005**

"This is just charming, Dee," Diana crowed, walking up to Dee in one of the banquet rooms of Pier 60. "I like this better."

JJ nodded his head in agreement.

Dee was looking out to the terrace beyond the room and the Hudson River. "I think I'd like the terrace too. It is an all weather deck."

"I think the terrace would be a lovely place for the ceremony, Dee," Diana added, standing next to Dee and looking out at the terrace.

"I like it a lot," Dee stated. "But the Lighthouse is just as nice."

"Well, once you talk it over with Ryo, see what's available for when you want to be married," Diana suggested. "That might help you decide which one to take."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I guess like Ryo suggested, we'll see what dates they have open within the timeframe we have."

JJ stood on the other side of Dee, looking back over the room. "With some event lighting, this place would be grand," he stated enthusiastically. "And yet still within your comfort level."

Dee's attention went from the terrace to JJ. "Event lighting? I mean, other than maybe some candlelight, I think it looks fine."

"Dee, didn't you go through my list?" Diana asked.

"Halfway," Dee replied. "But I really wanted to check this place soon."

"Lighting is important for the mood, Dee," Diana said. "So is event setting. I already checked that we are allowed to bring outside event planners to set up. This has so much potential, Dee. Oh, the possibilities!"

JJ was bouncing excitedly, looking around the place with wild eyes as he planned in his head.

Dee shrugged helplessly, looking a little nervous. "The reason I wanted to see this place is because I like how it looks already. I don't see why we need to add much extra."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Oh my, I never thought you can be so naïve, you sweet lamb."

Dee pouted. "I'm not naïve. I like it as it is. Is there anything wrong with that?"

JJ patted Dee on the shoulder. "It's okay for now, Dee." He glanced pointedly at Diana, then to Dee, said, "We're taking baby steps anyway. We have a reception venue and a possible ceremony site. Isn't that right, Diana?"

Diana nodded. "Oh yes, definitely. Excellent choices too, I might add. I'm sure even the MacLeans will be impressed with the quaint charm."

Dee glared at Diana, knowing when he was being placated. "Diana… JJ…," he warned.

"It's fine, Dee," Diana assured him. "As I said, very lovely and charming. Any waterfront reception adds its own elegance. I didn't realize they had such ambiance tucked away in these piers."

Dee finally laughed. "Right under the main club house too. Hell, until yesterday I thought it was just a sports complex."

"Later I'll show you some examples of what we mean," Diana said. "If you don't like it, at least you still have very lovely selections for the reception."

"Sure, Diana." Dee strode away from Diana and JJ to a nearby table, where he gathered up the information packets. He looked back at his companions. "Are we ready now?" His head still spun from all the questions Diana and JJ asked the event representative. "Before Ryo starts to wonder what's taking us so long at 1PP."

"At least we did what we said we were doing first," Diana stated. "Assisting Dee in looking up some things for his case."

JJ chuckled as he wrapped his scarf around his neck and buttoned his coat. "Let's go. But if anyone asks about how long we were gone, we'll say you got hit with that sickness again," he said to Dee.

Dee was buttoning his own coat, and grinned at JJ. "Yeah. That is a convenient excuse, isn't it?" He winked at JJ.

"Save it, Dee," Diana warned. "I know that look and faking it will not get you less paperwork. It will just be waiting for you to return."

Dee sighed as they started to walk across the room to the exit. As they came out on the walkway along the pier toward where they parked, Dee glared at Diana. "I thought you said I'd like what you had for me?" he asked.

"Oh well," Diana shrugged. "I might have been wrong," she stated innocently, then laughed. "At least you're still allowed to do some things other than push paper for this case."

Dee groaned. "Gee, thanks for putting everything into proper perspective for me," he muttered, adjusting his scarf.

Diana and JJ laughed.

As they walked, Dee noticed a yacht alongside the pier. It was long and glass enclosed vessel. He stopped, staring down at it in fascination.

Diana and JJ took a few more steps before the realized they had lost Dee. They looked back find him leaning against the railing of the pier and looking at a dinner yacht. Diana smiled and nudged JJ knowingly. JJ shook his head, amused. They both walked back to join Dee.

"That might give the prices of those wedding packages Ryo has some serious competition, Dee," Diana stated.

Dee continued to study the boat. "Be nice to do something different."

JJ sighed heavily. "There goes the event planners and all those lusciously grand ideas I had to present to you for your perusal."

"It won't hurt to take a quick look see, if we can," Diana stated. "We'll say Dee took a while recovering and we stopped to get him something to eat." She winked at Dee. "If nothing else, we can probably get a brochure for this boat."

Dee nodded. "I'd like that."

"Are you serious?" JJ asked, finding himself following Dee and Diana down the ramp to the boat. "I guess you are," he sighed.

They toured the yacht and collected information for that one and several others run by the same company, including prices for wedding packages. Once again, Diana asked questions. This time JJ remained quiet, looking uneasily around.

"Don't you like it?" Dee asked. "It has a certain charm and it's different. That's what I like about it. It's not a hotel, manor, or townhouse. It's on the water. I don't know why, but a waterfront wedding appeals to me."

"Dee, this isn't waterfront," JJ pointed out. "This will be right in the middle of the water."

Dee shook his head. "No worse than taking a ferry, like over to Staten Island," he laughed. "Geez JJ, I'm not planning on getting married in the middle of the Atlantic. It just circles Manhattan. No big deal." Dee grinned. "But different."

JJ's cell phone rang. Diana and Dee watched as JJ answered his phone. "It's Drake," he told them, then took out his notebook.

"Now what?" Dee sighed.

Dee and Diana waited as JJ took notes while he spoke to on the phone.

JJ said goodbye to his partner and hung up the phone. "Crime scene. Ryo and Drake are already there. They want me there." He looked at Diana. "You and Dee can go back." He glanced apologetically at Dee.

"Now wait a minute. Why do I have to go back?"

"Because Ryo specifically requested that you stay away from this one, Dee. It's particularly gruesome and that sickness you're going to pretend you had to explain what took us so long will be very real," JJ replied.

Dee opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut, getting angry at himself. He knew that he could not get too close to corpses lately. He would get violently ill, especially if the body had been sitting for a while before being found. He sighed and nodded. "Diana, if you want to go along, I'll drive one of the cars back."

"Do you mind, Dee?"

"Of course I mind," Dee snapped, annoyed. "But that shouldn't stop you. Go. I'll drive myself back and go on being fuckin' useless… again."

"Dee," Diana stated, feeling sorry for him.

Dee waved her off brusquely, clenching the portfolio for the yacht along with the information packets for Pier 60 and the Lighthouse and started to walk off the yacht onto the boarding ramp. "I'll meet you back at the station. Later."

Diana and JJ hurried along to catch up with Dee. "At least we can all walk together," JJ stated, "Especially since the two cars are parked close to each other."

"Fine," Dee muttered, but remained quiet for the rest of the walk, despite JJ and Diana's attempts at conversation.

At the cars, they split up. Diana and JJ got into the car JJ had taken out, and Dee got into the car him and Diana arrived in. He did not wave as he dropped his folders on the passenger seat and pulled the car out.

He drove along the driveway off the pier and onto the Westside Highway, aware that he was being tailed. He made a few turns to head north on the Westside Highway. He lost JJ and Diana along the way. He knew he was speeding, but he could not stop himself. His frustration and anger lent to his speed until he got off the exit to head east toward the 27th Precinct. A few blocks from the station house, he pulled over next to a hydrant and put his head down on the steering wheel, finally allowing himself to do what he had been wanting to do since he left the pier. He cried. Which only made him more angry at himself. A few minutes later, he roughly wiped his eyes, and pulled the car out of the parking space and drove on until he entered the garage for the 27th precinct. He spent the rest of the afternoon on his research.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

At 4 o'clock, Dee debated should he call Ryo or not, so he knew what he was supposed to do. He could wait there, and continue working until Ryo got back, or if Ryo was going to take longer, he could go home and get dinner started.

Before he came to a decision, the phone rang.

"Criminal Investigation, Dee Laytner speaking," he answered.

"Hi Dee," he heard Ryo's voice. He sounded exhausted.

"Hey baby. Are you almost wrapped up there?"

"Hate to say no. I'm just calling to tell you don't wait for me. You might as well head home. I'll call you when I get away from here."

"Babe, you sound wiped."

Ryo sighed. "I'll tell you about it when I finally get home. Would you mind having some dinner waiting for me, Dee? Nothing too heavy. Maybe some soup and a sandwich sounds good. I don't think I can stomach anything heavy."

"Sure," Dee replied. "Anything you want. It sounds like I should also have a nice warm bath drawn for you."

"For us, Dee. When I get home, I want to just sit down and hold you in my arms."

"Ryo?"

He heard Ryo mutter a curse under his breath. "I'll talk to you at home. I'll call a few more times so you know my progress toward getting home. Give Bikky my apologies for working late tonight."

"He understands," Dee replied. "He's been a detective's son for years now. If you're not home by the time we have dinner, we'll probably settle down and watch the game while we're waiting for you."

"Thanks, Dee. I gotta go. I love you."

"Love you too, Ryo."

He listened as the phone disconnected, and leaned back in his seat, looking at the pile of paperwork he was currently working on. Diana had a cold case for him to look into. She was hoping it would help her tie into a current case of hers. For Dee, this particular case meant hours of research, digging through old archives and going through old folders, compiling information and attempting to find current addresses. He was given permission for limited legwork, as long as he had Ryo or Diana along. He was yet at the point to consider legwork.

Dee leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and placed his head between his hands. He wanted to be out there with the others, poking around a crime scene and getting fresh scents to track down a suspect, rather than going through musty old files. Coming to a decision to go home, he collected a few folders and put them in a pocket for files in his laptop case, checking to make sure the reception folios were in there, and left the office.

He was starting to get a headache, and he hoped he would have a chance to lay down for even a half hour before Bikky got home.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Dee got home before Bikky. He took a quick shower, and put on the pajamas Ryo had given him for Christmas. He was not hungry yet, but had some fruit while he put the ingredients for chicken stew in the crockpot. Once it was on, he went into the bedroom. He intended to take a nap for a half hour before getting up and continue with making dinner.

Dee ended up waking to being kissed. He opened his eyes to smile up at Ryo.

"Dinnertime, sleepyhead," Ryo said softly, running his fingers through Dee's hair.

"What time is it?" Dee asked.

"Not too late to have some of this before dinner," Ryo replied, nuzzling Dee's ear.

Dee moaned, then realized there was an urgency in Ryo that was different than most times. He put an arm around Ryo to pull his partner down alongside him on the bed. Immediately Ryo snuggled up against him, seeking out Dee's lips.

"I love you," Ryo intoned before deeply kissing Dee.

Dee held Ryo tighter as they kissed. When they broke apart for air, Dee studied Ryo's face. He noticed worry lines he didn't see before. "What happened there, baby?" he asked.

Ryo shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it," he said roughly, burying his face in Dee's neck.

"It's bothering you, I want to know."

"You'll probably know in the morning. And no, I didn't bring any work home with me. I just want to forgot it tonight," Ryo replied. "All I want to do is hold you." Ryo kissed Dee deeply, his hands roaming across familiar and loved plains and angles of his loved one's body.

Ryo continued to kiss him with a passion that made Dee whimper. He lost track of everything but what Ryo's mouth, tongue and hands were doing to him. He looked up in surprise when Ryo pulled away, sitting up with a heavy sigh. Ryo ran his hands through his mussed brown hair.

Noticing Dee looking up at him with dazed eyes and a confused frown, Ryo smiled down at him, caressing his cheek. "Later for more. Bikky was kind enough to wait, so we can all eat together.

Dee echoed Ryo's sigh of not long before, but he had long become accustomed to putting his sex life on hold for Bikky. It got easier as feelings of concern for the boy's welfare grew into parental feelings. Dee smiled up at Ryo, covering his hand.

"Soon enough there will be two kids needing attention," Dee smiled, sitting up.

Ryo nodded. The hand on the cheek moved to Dee's abdomen and rubbed it gently. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "Bikky said he looked in on you when he got home, and you looked like you were hurting while you slept."

"I had a pretty bad headache by the time I got home. But it's gone now."

"You didn't have to make dinner then, Dee…."

"Throwing some stuff in a crockpot is hardly any trouble," Dee assured Ryo.

Ryo chuckled. "This coming from the man who had no patience to heat up a can of soup on the stovetop."

"Hey, that was back in my single days. I'm domesticated now."

Ryo smirked at Dee. "Yeah, you are. And quite a good cook too." He got off the bed, pulling Dee by his hand. "In fact, I just might make you do all the cooking around here."

Dee allowed Ryo to lead them out of the bedroom. "I knew it!" Dee crowed, laughing. "You just wanna keep me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen!"

"That's right, Dee," Ryo winked, laughing with Dee. "Busted."

Dee snorted. "Keep dreaming, sweetheart. Didn't I hear you're next when we're ready for another? Huh?" He started to tickle Ryo as they entered the dining room.

"I give. Yes! Yes!" Ryo cried out laughing, unsuccessfully attempting to get away from Dee's attack.

"Geez you two. Not in the dining room."

Dee snorted and bit back his retort of, "At least not when you're around." He just glared at Bikky. He noticed Bikky had the table set and was sitting at the table.

Ryo laughed as he noticed the same. Ruffling Bikky's blond hair, he said, "Now that's a hint someone is ready to eat, if I ever saw one." He touched Dee's arm. "Why don't you sit down and I'll get this fine stew you made for us served. I don't think we need sandwiches with this."

"I do," Bikky remarked.

Dee laughed. "Just the stew for me, please," he said, sitting down at the table with Bikky.

"Three stews and one sandwich coming right up," Ryo stated and went into the kitchen.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Dee awoke from the sound of a choking gasp coming from behind him. He started to move at the same time Ryo was sitting up, running both hands through his hair.

Ryo was sweaty and his breathing was ragged. It sounded as if he had sobbed, before he attempted to calm his breathing.

Dee sat up and faced his lover. "Ryo? Are you all right, baby?"

Ryo nodded, taking in a deep breath. "Yeah. It was just a dream." He looked at Dee, then reached out to take his hand. "I'm fine now."

Dee moved closer to Ryo. "Just a dream? Or a nightmare?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ryo replied. It was the same reply Ryo had given him all night long whenever Dee noticed something was bothering Ryo. Dee had a strong feeling what it was.

He gathered Ryo in his arms, leaning them back against the headboard. "Baby," he started, gently nuzzling the side of Ryo's face, "don't think you have to protect me from cases. Especially if it's affecting you like this."

Ryo sighed, leaning further into Dee's hold. He shook his head. "I wish I could protect you from it, because if what I saw is getting to me, then I don't want to think about what you'll feel when you get a briefing tomorrow. Please Dee. I just don't want to talk about it anymore right now."

Dee heard the unspoken plea. He shifted again and gathered Ryo so the other man was half on him and held him close.

Ryo clung onto Dee and held on for his life. Deciding instead of giving into his fears and anger, he kissed Dee. He needed it. He needed to feel Dee in his arms, to feel his lover's heartbeat against his chest, the swell of their baby between them. If he ever lost them – Dee and the baby – Ryo did not know what he would do. Bad enough, once they got an ID, he would have to go talk to the family of the man they found in a basement trash room. No way was he going to allow Dee to go with him.

As long as the psycho who killed that man was loose, Ryo had a need to lock Dee away from the world. It was pretty obvious it was a hate crime. Ryo wanted that killer off the streets now so he would not harm anymore pregnant Carriers and their unborn children. So Ryo would not have any nightmares of Dee being a victim of the hatred. Such as the nightmare he just had. He had relived his afternoon in his dreams, only the man they found had Dee's face.

Ryo choked back tears that threatened to spill. He moved his lips along Dee's jaw, moving them so he could get his arms firmer around Dee.

"Baby, you're shaking," Dee stated concerned. "What's wrong?"

Ryo shook his head. "Just keep holding me. Please Dee. Don't let go for now."

"I won't."

"I'm sorry I had you stay away this afternoon, but…," Ryo felt he had to apologize. "I just couldn't handle knowing you were in the area. You'll understand tomorrow. Just right now, hold me. Let me hold you. Please, Dee."

"Of course, baby. Anything."

"I love you, Dee. I love you so damn much," Ryo stated, his mouth going to Dee's.

"Love you too, Ryo," Dee replied, meeting Ryo's mouth for a kiss.

Dee decided not to push Ryo. He would talk when he was ready. Dee already had a good idea what it was, while hoping he was wrong. He did the only thing he could do until Ryo was ready to say more, he held onto Ryo, covering his face with kisses and murmuring how much he loved him, until Ryo finally fell asleep, still holding onto Dee.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**January 25, 2006**

Dee stared at the folder in disbelief. He had come across hate crimes before, including one that involved a Carrier. That was early in his career as a detective. He had faced down hatred for including men as his choice for lovers.

What he read went beyond extreme prejudice and into madness. He could not believe someone could do something like that. Especially to an innocent unborn baby. Just because his parent was a Carrier.

He felt the hands on his shoulders tighten. He looked up at Ryo, who stood behind him, explaining in a flat monotone, what they had encountered at the crime scene. Ryo gestured to the file.

"We found the victim, cut open across his front." Ryo shook his head. "What we didn't expect to find was… I mean, we weren't allowed to touch the body until CSU showed up, so we didn't know…" Dee watched as Ryo visibly paled. "I just happened to have noticed something odd about a pile of trash… so I crotched down for a closer look. I…I didn't expect to find… the… baby."

Dee put his hands on Ryo's and squeezed them tightly. He gritted his teeth. "The bastard." His voice was harsh.

"Dee," Drake said gently. "I really don't want you to see the crime scene photos."

Dee looked over to Drake. "I don't want to, but…." He shrugged helplessly.

Ryo moved to lean against his partner's desk. Automatically Dee's hands went down to rest on his abdomen protectively. Ryo gazed down at Dee. "Dee," he said firmly, "if you want to help out on the case, fine. But you will not go on the streets for this case. Not even accompanied."

Dee's head snapped up and his mouth was ready to protest when he looked at Ryo's face. The words failed to come.

"Last night's nightmare," Ryo continued. "Instead of the face of our victim, it was your face."

Dee's look turned to concern.

"So you can understand why I want you to stay in the station. Please, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "I'll do what I can from this end."

Ryo leaned over to kiss him. "Thank you."

The door to their office opened and they heard Jim's voice. "Oh God, they're at it again. I swear you two, ever since you came out about things…."

Dee laughed. "Jealous, Jimbo? What do you have for us?"

"A wallet was recovered from the scene. It was found later after you guys left to do a canvas," Jim explained. "The name matches the ID I got, so we have a current address." He dropped a folder on Dee's desk. "Unfortunately, it's clean of other fingerprints or any other incriminating marks to ID the perp.

Ryo snatched the folder up and started to look through it.

Dee pulled the envelope that sat on his desk closer. "God help me, but I can't help it," he said.

"That might not be a good idea," Drake said.

Ryo put the folder down and took the envelope from Dee's hand. "Nah. Let him. Maybe I can convince him to really be careful until we find this bastard." He took the photos out of the envelope and dropped them before Dee. He glanced at the others in the office with them. "Make a path, guys. He's going to charge soon."

Dee had his hand to his mouth at the first photo. At the second, he never made it getting out of his chair. Thankfully Ryo noticed what was to happen and had the wastepaper basket at the ready. He held Dee, rubbing his back as Dee threw up into the basket.

Drake was already moving to get some water for Dee.

Chief Smith entered the office and glanced at the activity. "Dammit, you morons! You let Dee look at the photos?" he roared.

"He wanted to see them, Chief," Ryo explained, still holding Dee and rubbing his back. "Easy baby. Take a deep breath," he said to Dee.

Jim shook his head. "So you're going to avoid the labor, but you're still a breathing coach, huh, Ryo?"

Ryo glared at Jim. Dee was reaching for the water Drake held out for him.

Ryo's attention went back to the Chief. "I let him, Chief. Because I want him to know what's out there right now, so he doesn't decide to do something stupid."

Chief shook his head, then sighed. "I'll have to admit, that might work. Randy, Commissioner Rose wants to see you and me in his office. As soon as Dee is okay, head on down there. Okay?"

Ryo nodded.

"I'm fine now, Ryo," Dee said, sitting back in his seat, one hand resting on the swell of his abdomen.

"Really?"

"Yes. Go see what's going on. Drake and I will start working with what Jimbo has for us until JJ gets back. I want this bastard off the streets as soon as possible."

Ryo leaned over for a brief kiss, wiping Dee's mouth with a tissue. "Be back soon, love."

Dee nodded at Ryo. "I'll be waiting."

"WHAT!?!" Ryo roared, leaning on the Commissioner's desk.

Chief Smith moved next to Ryo, placing a hand on his back. "Randy, you have to understand."

Ryo turned to face the Chief. "I can understand wanting Dee taken off the case, but Chief…."

"I want both of you off the case, Randy." Chief looked slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" Ryo demanded, forgetting the man he inquired was a superior.

"Ryo," the commissioner spoke up. "We do expect you to do one thing more for this case, before handing it over to Adams and Parker." Ryo glared in his direction. "You are probably the most likely one to talk to any family. I'm going to go along with you. You do understand why you're the most likely candidate."

Ryo nodded. "I do. I'll go, but I'm going to regret hearing that question when it comes, you know. But I do know how I'd feel if it was Dee…. You know." The nightmare from the night before threatened to haunt Ryo again.

"When it's asked, just remember we will keep Dee safe," Rose stated. "He's going to hate it, but until we find our victim, I do not want him alone anywhere around the area of our precinct. If you can't be with him, make sure someone else is. Or he stays indoors."

Ryo let out a puff of air. "Dee's gonna pop. It's bad enough to keep him behind a desk for just this case, but for all cases?" Ryo sighed. "But I'm with you on that. Thanks for backing me up on this."

"We stick together and look out for our own, Randy," Chief said. "You know that. And Dee… well, he's become something special around here. You know many here will go out on a limb for him these days."

Ryo smiled at this superiors. "Thank you." The smile left his face. "But as for me, I don't understand how this qualifies me to be taken off the case? Because I'm too close because my fiancé is a pregnant Carrier? Then how come we don't take parents off child cases? And I should have been taken off those cases too, and Dee. Why now?"

Rose sighed heavily. "Because we don't have males here who gave birth to their own kids, Ryo. Dee's the first. That's why. Carriers, while common, are still not the status quo. And I see where your mind is. I'll admit so is mine. We both see this killer as a threat to Dee. I can't have you out on the streets thinking like that, Ryo. I'm going to be watching Adams and Parker, because they are Dee's friends. If need, I will determine if this case needs to be handed off to another team. But, do not let it stop you from doing research. Off the record, of course. Just do not take steps to apprehend our suspect. Is that clear?"

Ryo nodded.

Chief placed a beefy hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Now go back and finish the prelims, including information on family."

"Yes sir." He started to walk out of the office and turned back. "You do realize, however, that I have more at stake to find this son of a bitch?"

"Which is why I'm allowing you to research," Rose replied. "You're flying a desk on this one, Ryo. Unofficially, of course. Any information you or Dee dig up, you turn over to me to be handed to whoever is handling the case."

Ryo nodded. "Yes sir."

"Let me know when we have an address of relatives, Ryo," Rose called out.

"I will, Commissioner. I should go back and check on Dee."

"Go ahead. And remember, do not let Dee go out on the streets alone in the area. That's a direct order," Rose said.

"You can count on that." Ryo left the office.

** --------------------------------------------------------------------------**

A/N: I am so sorry about not getting to this sooner. I just lost track of the time, and got involved with some other things. I didn't get around to doing the editing until just now. One of the things I was doing was completing chapter 10, and some chapters far off for later in this saga.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed. You're the greatest! I just love hearing your thoughts. Thanks again! **HUGS**


	3. Issues With School

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 3 - Issues With School

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE

Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

----------------------------------------------

January 25, 2006

When Ryo returned to the office, he found JJ was back and conferring with Dee and Drake. The three men looked up from their conversation as Ryo entered.

"Everything okay?" Dee asked, noting the tight look on Ryo's face.

Ryo shook his head and walked across the office to join the other men. "Yeah. I just need to talk to you later." His eyes indicated Drake and JJ, letting Dee know Ryo meant alone and not with the other two present.

"Oh." Dee nodded. "Okay."

Ryo pulled up a chair and straddled it. "So what do you guys have?"

Dee lifted a paper. "A name. Lester Hardcordt. A husband, William Hardcordt. Who had filed a missing person on our victim three days ago."

Ryo placed his chin on his hands, which rested on the top of the chair. "Damn."

"Initial on scene ME report says the vic was dead for two days," Drake added. "We'll know more after the autopsy."

Dee snorted, sharing a glance with Drake and JJ.

Ryo gritted his teeth. "So the poor man… and… that… child was left with the rest of the trash until pick up day. Which was yesterday."

"That's usually how it works," Dee remarked. His tone was cold and distant. "Anyway between what Jim has for us, and the missing person report, we have enough to start an investigation."

Ryo nodded, his mouth a tight line. "And to inform the next of kin," he added.

"Yeah," Dee agreed. "Now here's the kicker. The ME scheduled an in depth for tomorrow evening."

Ryo's head lifted as he looked at Dee. "Tomorrow evening? We found the body yesterday afternoon. That poor man's been dead for two freakin' days!" Ryo's voice rose with his temper.

Dee held his hands up. "Whoa there, partner. Don't yell at me. I didn't schedule it."

"Backlog at the county morgue," Drake explained. "Or so they say."

When Ryo glared at Drake, JJ added, "Quite a few DOA assists in the last couple of days, they say. They need to rule out foul play to release the bodies for burial."

"They need to release this poor man too!" Ryo snapped.

"He ain't going any where for a while, unfortunately," Dee said, his voice still with a distant edge to it. "Even after the autopsy."

Ryo growled. "A lot of freakin' people decided to bite it in the last few days," he grumped.

Three heads nodded in silent agreement. They knew where Ryo's thoughts were going. Their thoughts were already there. Something was not right.

Ryo looked at Dee again, studying the man who was carrying his baby.

Dee gave Ryo a tight, understanding smile. "Oh, autopsy on the fetus is scheduled for just before lunch today." Dee's look hardened. "I guess since he's so tiny, they were able to squeeze the little guy in, huh?"

Ryo saw the sadness in Dee's eyes for the fetus. Dee's hands were resting on his abdomen, lightly rubbing small circles. Ever since Dee noted the sex of the fetus on the report, he insisted to give it an identity, rather than referring to it as 'it'.

"Let's be thankful the ME is not holding anything against that innocent child," JJ stated gloomily.

The three men jumped when Ryo suddenly slammed his hand on the desk surface. "He shouldn't be dead, dammit!" he exploded. "Both of them should be alive."

Dee was standing and went around his desk to place his arms around Ryo. "Baby, easy. Look, I don't know what other prejudice we're going to deal with on this case, but I'm not going to let it stop us from finding this bastard."

"But Dee," Ryo protested, "they died only because…."

Dee lifted a finger. "Technically we can't say that yet. Not until we have solid evidence that this was a hate crime. And we'll get it. Don't worry." He lightly kissed Ryo. "Now, I'm going to go and take this matter about the ME up with Rose. In the meantime, Drake and JJ will fill you in with what else we have."

Ryo nodded, reigning in his temper noticeably. "You're right. I'm sorry, Dee."

Dee grinned and winked at Ryo. "Don't be. I blew up like that too while you were talking to Chief and the Commissioner." He kissed Ryo again. "Guys, fill him in, please." He picked up a file and made for the door.

"Sure, Dee," JJ replied, watching Dee.

Drake and JJ waited until Dee closed the door behind him. Drake moved Ryo to sit in the chair Dee recently vacated. "Look, Ryo, I know this isn't an easy case," he stated, "but you need to pull it together before Chief…."

"Chief already took me off the case," Ryo stated gruffly. "Dee too. At least officially. After I speak to the victim's next of kin, that is."

"That's what went on?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. I didn't want to tell Dee in front of you guys. I'd rather he find out when we're alone. I also have to tell him that he's under direct order not to leave the station house alone."

JJ rolled his eyes. "Oh, he'll have a fit at first," JJ stated. "Because he's empathizing with the vic. But then all the implications that haven't sunk in yet will eventually."

"Well, I'm hoping that if explained the right way, Dee's self protection will kick in before his pride does," Ryo sighed.

"I think it's starting anyway," Drake said thoughtfully. "I've noticed the entire time since you left, Dee maintained one arm across his bump."

Ryo smiled tenderly. "He does that without realizing it. It's his subconscious, 'I need to protect my baby' gesture. So what else do we have?"

"Dee didn't want to be around and hear it twice," JJ explained, "which is why he picked now to go talk to Rose. Lester was 23, married, second pregnancy," he filled Ryo in.

Ryo listened as Drake talked, while leafing through a file.

"He lived on West 99th, off Broadway, with his husband. He was last seen 4 days ago when he took his evening walk," Drake concluded.

Ryo nodded. "Look guys, this case is going to you two once I speak to the vic's husband. But both the Commissioner and Chief explained that we can still do research on it. We just can't do anything with any evidence we come up with."

"We'll take care of it," JJ said. "I want that sicko put away as soon as possible."

"One more thing, guys," Ryo added. "Rose will be watching you, too. If he feels it's too risky to have you both heading the investigation, he'll take the case away from CI."

"We won't give them reason to, Ryo. Don't worry," Drake assured him. "Ted and Marty already assured us they'll help anyway they can. Unfortunately they got called out to check out a theft. Or they'd be here with us too."

"Thanks," Ryo sighed. "All of you. I know we need to get him off the street for the safety of other Carriers, but…." He paused, running his hands through his hair. "This freak scares the crap out of me. Thankfully Dee isn't showing too much, but he's getting there. And God, I don't want to think that he's noticed Dee."

JJ put a comforting arm around Ryo. "You know we'll all do what we can to keep Dee safe."

"That's right, Ryo," Drake agreed. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to head out where our vic was last seen and start our canvas."

"Okay. I'll probably be gone with the Commissioner soon to speak to the husband." Ryo shook his head sadly. "God, this is going to be harder than usual. Anyway, I'm hoping to make it to the baby's autopsy."

"Will you be allowed to go?" JJ asked.

"If I can get Rose to go, I'm sure. Meet us there?" Ryo asked his friends.

"Yeah. We'll see you there then," Drake sighed, shaking his head.

----------------------------------------------

Dee entered the office in a subdued mood. He closed the door, noting that it was just Ryo waiting for him.

"How did it go with the Commissioner?" Ryo asked.

Dee shrugged. "He agrees with us that it's not fair, but we have nothing to scream dirty play to them. So the autopsy stands for tomorrow night. Rose said if they push it back further, he wants to know." Dee shrugged. "I told him we had a next of kin." He sat down at his desk and glanced briefly at Ryo. "Apparently you're going with him."

"Dee, it's not like it used to be with Rose. Baby, I know you hate it at times when I want to protect you, but I'm not going to bullshit you either. I don't want you there for your own protection. Rose doesn't want you there for the same reason. Next to you, we're the only two who can have an understanding of that man is going through."

"That's what he said." Dee shrugged, picking up a folder and opening it. "I asked to just ride along. That's when he said that would leave me alone in the car for the time." Dee drew a deep ragged breath.

Ryo stood up, cursing under his breath. He knew what was coming. If things weren't crazy in the office and Dee didn't make a quick getaway so he wouldn't have to listen while Ryo got filled in with facts, he would have told Dee himself. He understood why Rose was the one to tell Dee, but Ryo still did not like it.

"Dee…."

"You were already told I'm under orders to have a babysitter with me when I'm out and about in this area," Dee stated, looking up at Ryo.

"I was waiting so I could tell you without Drake and JJ around. Then you up and ran to the Commissioner's office. At the time it seemed like a good idea to let you go, hoping something could have been done about the autopsy. But I forgot it might have to come up while you were speaking with the Commissioner."

"Well, yeah I'm sorta pissed about it." Dee sighed heavily. "But I understand. I'll stay here and see what I can dig up. But that doesn't mean I like it," he warned.

He smiled as Ryo leaned over and kissed him gently. "I love you, Dee, and I just want the two of you to stay safe," Ryo said.

"Just remember to check in when you can, so I don't worry about you."

"As always. I'll see you after lunch."

Dee watched Ryo walk out of the office, then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk. He held his head between his hands, willing himself to deal with the files before him. There really was not much more to do for the case at the moment. Not until Ryo and Rose returned after interviewing family, Drake and JJ came back from their canvas, and the damn ME finally released autopsy results – assuming the autopsy ever gets done.

Meanwhile he was not only once again useless, Dee felt as if he had become a burden to his co-workers. Along with catching their perp, his friends now had to also look after him.

It was that thought that pushed his determination to find something somewhere that would help them. While everyone was out, he went through everything they had so far. He even made himself study the photos from the scene.

His lunch ended up being crackers and chamomile tea to settle his stomach and he hoped his nerves.

----------------------------------------------

Ryo came back mid-afternoon, along with Drake and JJ. There were more notes, names and phone numbers for them to inquire and hopefully get a description of a suspect. Dee managed to point out some itmes of interest on the crime scene photos. They sat down and compiled notes and split up tasks. Dee was to make all the phone calls and research, staying indoors. Ryo would do legwork on any research on the outside, while JJ and Drake took whatever they came up with and went out in hopes of getting a collar.

Ryo announced that according to their victim's husband, he was 6 ½ months pregnant. The ME who examined the fetus agreed with it. They were hoping the full autopsy results on the fetus would be released by the next day.

Rose called a meeting for CI. Everyone reported whatever they found that day to the Commissioner and Chief. Chief Smith went on to say that Dee and Ryo were off the case officially and he named Drake and JJ as the lead investigators for the case. Marty and Ted were to help between their caseloads.

Ryo and Dee were to take other cases and they would get another detective in when necessary to go out with Ryo. It was obvious Dee was not happy with that decision, not trusting just anyone with Ryo. He hated that he had to agree with the terms.

Rose then announced that he had a press conference that evening. He had prepared a statement, warning any pregnant Carriers, especially those in the precinct area, to take the same precautions they were all taking with Dee.

----------------------------------------------

January 27, 2006

Despite the enthusiasm to forge ahead with the Carrier case, it almost came to a screeching halt by Friday.

Dee had gone back to working his case for Diana on Thursday. He still made some calls pertaining to the Carrier case during the day, hoping to gather more information for them to go on. Drake and JJ spent all Thursday hoping to get even a vague description of someone suspicious, with no luck.

At the last minute, the autopsy for their victim was pushed for late Friday. When Rose got JJ's call, he was livid. Unfortunately all his power was to no avail in getting it moved back up to an earlier time. He concluded he was up against someone with more weight in terms of money and political influence. By Friday, the Commissioner had determined to start his own investigation to find out who he was up again. Meanwhile, they all feared it would be pushed back yet again.

Dee and Ryo had Friday off. Late afternoon, Dee was scheduled for his monthly appointment with Vince. Since New Year's Eve, they had spoken to Vince about four times, finally settling down and stop worrying about every little thing about Dee. Three of the four calls were social ones. The Friday before, Bikky had offered to stay at Vince's place to watch Jason and Hannah, allowing Vince and David to enjoy a rare night out alone. To make it more special, Vince did not have to cut the night short, his cell phone and pager remaining blissfully quiet except for a call from Bikky, because Jason did not want to go to sleep without saying goodnight to his daddies.

Ryo had managed to push the nightmare of that first night away as he watched Dee grow more restless in the last two days. Dee was more a protector and did not take well to being the protected. Ryo was glad he still endured it, putting the baby's well being before his own pride. It did not stop Dee from grumbling or getting into moods over it now and then. Like the rest of the mood swings, Ryo allowed them to roll off him, watching for when he saw a moment to step in and alter Dee's mood for the better.

Ryo had noticed Dee grumbled much less when he was the one protecting his partner. Dee's problem was with everyone else protecting him. The dark haired detective did not have to say it, because Ryo could see Dee was feeling useless as a detective, despite his progress with his case, and the input he gave for the Carrier case.

They had left for work on Thursday, Ryo assuring he was armed under his coat. Drake and JJ were waiting at the subway station and walked with Dee and Ryo to the precinct. Dee was stuck indoors until the end of the day. When it was time for them to go home, JJ offered them a ride home. By the time JJ dropped them off, Dee was definitely cranky and irritable. Ryo gave Bikky money to go to the movies with Carol. With Bikky out of the apartment, there was less of a chance of Dee snapping at Bikky for no reason and start up one of their arguments the two had been doing without lately. Ryo had quickly gotten used to the peace, and enjoyed the teasing banter between his adopted son and soon-to-be husband.

Unknown to Ryo, what added to Dee's mood was not being able to get out that day to look at other places that interested him to give him a selection of venues to choose for the wedding. He had taken Diana's advice on not getting set on one place.

By Friday, Dee had resorted to printing up what he could find on some places from the internet whenever Ryo was busy in another part of the apartment. When Ryo left to go to the store, Dee made a few phone calls hoping to receive information packets. He emailed a few other when Ryo was around.

The two men were cuddled on the couch, an hour before they were to leave to meet Bikky at his school. They were having a snack of apple filled donuts and sharing cut fresh fruit when the phone started to ring The teen had been going to his peer meetings weekly since his first one and once went to a mid-week after school event. Bikky seemed to enjoy the meetings and got along with the other kids attending. There were a couple of new faces showing up at their place, looking for Bikky and Carol. What Dee and Ryo found touching and amusing was Carol meeting Bikky to join him at the meetings. They were not surprised because Carol was practically family. That particular day, because of Dee's appointment, Carol was going to meet Bikky at the meeting, which was set for after the appointment.

Ryo got up to answer it and was surprised that it was Bikky's school.

Dee looked up from his spot, curled up on the couch and reading. He was dressed comfortably in a loose tee-shirt and dark blue sweatpants. Noticing the pinched look on Ryo's face, he asked, "Who was that?" Dee steeled himself for more bad news on the Carrier case.

"Bikky's school. At least one of us need to be there now," Ryo replied.

"Why? What happened to Bikky?" Dee asked, putting aside his book, 'The Carrier's Guide to Carrying', and stood up, looking alarmed. He stood up a bit too quickly and Ryo reached out to steady him until the dizziness passed.

"Easy baby," Ryo murmured, rubbing Dee's back while still offering support. "Bikky's not hurt. He is in trouble for fighting in the halls."

"Fighting?" Dee asked. "I thought Biks was past all that?"

"I thought so too. I don't know why he was fighting. Mrs. Pritney said all will be explained when one of us gets there."

Dee started to frown. "I guess we need to get ready then?"

"I can go and you can meet us if you like?"

"Nah. Just give me a moment to throw on a sweater. I'll be ready in five."

Not long after, both men left the apartment to go to Bikky's school. They found themselves in an office with Bikky and the teacher who broke up the fight.

Ryo and Dee listened as the teacher related how she saw Bikky throw the first punch and proceeded to vent about what a vicious child he was.

Dee paused the diatribe by loudly clearing his throat, his displeasure at what was being said about Bikky plain to see on his expressive face. When the teacher stopped, Dee looked over to Bikky. "Biks, I'm not going to say I condone you fighting, but I think you should get your chance to tell us why you hit this boy."

Ryo folded his arms, waiting for an explanation.

"Because he was a jerk," Bikky snapped out. "That's why."

"That's no excuse to hit someone, Bikky," Ryo said patiently. "Dee and I deal with jerks on a daily basis, but we don't punch them out."

Bikky's eyes went to Dee and he gave a tiny knowing grin. Dee started to slump in his seat, his eyes warning Bikky to behave. "Yeah, well, I'm hoping you learn from the mistakes of my misguided youth," he stated.

Ryo snorted and barely resisted saying that Dee's misguided youth seemed to have recently ended, "Okay Biks, how about telling us why you think he's a jerk?"

"Mark read an article on the Carrier that was killed," Bikky started.

Ryo groaned at the name, while Dee muttered something that was most probably best not able to be heard while they were in the school office.

"Yeah, that same one," Bikky added upon seeing his adopted fathers' reactions. "Anyway he said the man deserved it and all Carriers should be killed. He said men have no right to be having babies and that's the only way to put nature back to order." His big blue eyes went to Dee. "That means he thinks that you…."

"I understand, Bikky," Dee cut him off, his voice level, but the eyes focused on Bikky betrayed the calm. Those eyes fixed on the teacher. "You know what? I'm perfectly willing to deal with Mark's parents on why my son felt he had to throw a punch. And then they had better be ready to deal with me and explain where did their son get the idea that people deserve to die. And why their son felt he had to upset mine, of course."

"Mr. Laytner," the teacher stated. "I understand and can appreciate your being open to unusual situations without prejudice, given your non-traditional family, but that does not change the fact that Bikky…."

"Where's Mark?" Ryo abruptly broke in.

"Excuse me, Mr. MacLean?"

"The other boy in the fight. There were two – Bikky and Mark. So where is Mark?" Ryo asked.

"He was the victim. I saw no reason to discipline him. I sent him to the nurse's office and then he will be sent home."

Dee snorted. Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, he said, "Even victims need to be questioned, Mrs. Laidlaw. And sometimes through the questioning we discover the victim wasn't exactly a victim. Or at the least, not totally innocent. So you're saying you let this Mark off free, while you punish Bikky?"

"Mark will be dealt with," Mrs. Laidlaw stated crisply. "He should know better than to fight back, even if your son is bigger and the better fighter. As he had proved in the past."

"I'm with Dee, Mrs. Laidlaw," Ryo stated. "I seem to recall when there's two kids involved in a fight on school grounds, both are summoned to the office and parents of both kids are called in."

"I understand you have a unique position being Bikky has two fathers, and you would feel he was done wrong by Mark's statement."

Ryo glared at the woman. "Excuse me?" he asked, dark eyes flashing. "Some kid made a statement claiming people deserve to be killed. Where is this right?"

"He's just a child," came the reply.

"A child who got that idea from somewhere," Dee remarked. "And I want to knew where. Not to mention, you do realize that when Mark said what he had, he basically told our son that one of his dads deserves to be killed."

The teacher's jaw dropped at Dee's statement.

Ryo rested his hand on Dee's shoulder. "Bikky, did you tell Mark about Dee?"

Bikky nodded. "Yeah. At least he overheard me talking to some of the other kids. He made some rude comments back then. But I didn't hit him. I even ignored him. But when he said that today…" Bikky's eyes filled with unshed tears. He looked at Mrs. Laidlaw. "I don't ever want anything to happen to either of my dads. It's bad enough because they're cops. But I got used to that. But if someone wants to kill my dad just because he's having a baby…."

Dee stood up and crotched before the chair Bikky sat in. "It's okay, Biks," he said gently. "I'm fine. So is Ryo."

Bikky grabbed onto Dee and hugged him. "I already lost a mom and dad. I don't want to lose you too."

Dee hugged Bikky back. "I know, kiddo. I know."

Ryo got up to stand next to Bikky and Dee, placing his arm around Bikky and glared at the teacher. His mind was on a young child who was too afraid to cry after losing his father. The child eventually cried in his arms over his loss. In the years that followed, Bikky still liked to play tough and keep certain emotions locked away, which made Ryo think he was so much like Dee. At least as time went by, when something truly did upset Bikky, he was not afraid to let Ryo, and eventually Dee, know. That Bikky was near tears and hugging onto Dee for dear life in his school's admin office told Ryo enough about how distraught Bikky was over the incident.

"I'd like to request a conference with Mark's parents," Ryo demanded. "And if I don't hear from you by tomorrow morning that such a meeting has been scheduled, then I'll take it upon myself to get their address from the PTA roster and we'll go visit them on our own."

Mrs. Laidlaw looked scandalized and dismayed. She was still processing that there was most likely one of those pregnant male freaks right there in the office with her. She studied Ryo, who exuded the concern of a distraught father and the authority of an officer of the law. She nodded, knowing when to back down. "Very well, Mr. MacLean. I'll set up something for Monday afternoon."

"Thank you," Ryo stated. "Now if we're finished here, my fiancé has an appointment with his MOP that the three of us would like to make."

"Oh… of c-course." She was obviously shaken upon the undeniable confirmation.

"C'mon bud," Dee said to Bikky, standing up. "Let's get going now. If we're lucky, you'll get to hear your baby brother or sister's heartbeat today."

"Yeah, I remember," Bikky said, getting up to walk beside Dee to the door. "That'll be so cool."

Dee had an arm around Bikky's shoulder. "Yeah, huh? That would be."

The two were smiling at each other as they talked.

Ryo walked behind Dee and Bikky. At the door, he held them up with a hand on each shoulder. He looked back at the chagrined teacher. "Mrs. Laidlaw, I intend to speak to the principal too. I trust this school teaches that killing is wrong and even 'wanting' someone dead is just as wrong. And I intend to get that confirmation from Mrs. Pritney. Have a good day."

Bikky and Dee merely raised their hands in parting and the family left the teacher alone in the office.

"You guys are mad, huh?" Bikky asked as they rode the bus to the medical center.

"Concerned," Ryo replied. "But we understand why you did it."

"It still doesn't make it right, Biks," Dee added.

Bikky realized he was not going to be punished and his dads were not going to yell. He looked at Dee and grinned. "I'll bet you were glad anyway."

"I'd have knocked the bastard out," came Dee's automatic reply. His eyes opened wide for a moment as he realized what he had said, then they narrowed in warning. "But I would have been wrong too."

Bikky laughed at Dee's slip. Ryo tried to glare at Dee, but knew he did not succeed.

"Ryo would have cracked his face in," Bikky added, still grinning. "Maybe even put a hole in it."

"Bikky!" Ryo exclaimed, appalled. "I would not have!" He noticed the veiled look Dee gave him. It said Dee knew Bikky was teasing Ryo to get a rise, but his lover was more concerned of it being too close to the truth.

Ryo realized that when he felt his family was threatened, he would become a force to be reckoned with. At times even a loose cannon, he thought as he remembered what Mickey had looked like for attempting to attack Dee and threaten their baby.

"All I'm saying, Bikky," Ryo started, in hopes to get back to the main point, "is we told you to come to us if anyone gave you trouble. So from now on, do that. If it's something that upsets you that much, you have a cell phone now, so use it. Call us as soon as you can."

Dee ruffled Bikky's blond hair affectionately. "Why do you think we got it for you, brat? It wasn't to talk to your friends all the time."

"It's not?" Bikky replied.

"Biks, please," Ryo said. "Look, we're not going to punish you for this, but at least let us know you understand the gravity of the situation."

"I do," Bikky replied. "I did when I punched him, but I couldn't stop myself."

Dee shared a look with Ryo, then said to Bikky, "Just promise us you'll try to do the right thing next time."

Bikky nodded. "I will, Dee. I promise."

"Good enough, Bikky," Ryo said.

"Dee?" Bikky asked.

"Yeah?"

"Um, can I…." He held his hand toward Dee. "You know."

Dee smiled softly. "Of course you can, Biks." Dee moved the sides of his coat apart more. When they sat down on the bus, Dee had unbuttoned the coat, suddenly feeling warm.

Bikky rested his hand against the swell underneath Dee's cable knit sweater. "Wow," he uttered.

"Yeah, huh? I agree," Dee said with a tender smile.

Ryo smiled at the touching scene, before noticing the landmarks going past outside the bus windows. "Hey, our stop is coming up," he stated. "Make sure you have your books, Bikky."

"Right here," Bikky replied, holding up the strap to his bookbag. He smirked up at Ryo.

"Behave, monkeybrat," Dee chuckled. "How about when you guys get out of your meeting, we go out for dinner? And maybe later I get to laugh at you and Ryo try to ice skate and keep up with Carol."

"Cool!" Bikky said as they stood up to make their way past others to get to the door.

Ryo reached out to pull the cord indicating someone wanting to get off at the next stop.

As the bus came to a stop, Bikky looked at Ryo. "What do you say?"

"I say Dee won't laugh at me," he stated as the bus came to a stop and Ryo pushed the door open. He held the door for Bikky and Dee as he continued to answer. "Because I'm not the one who sits on his ass more than he skates."

Dee stuck his tongue out at Ryo as he got off the bus.

"Do that again and I'll pull it out," Ryo threatened with a grin. He put his arm around Dee's waist as they started to walk to the corner.

"I'd love to see you try," Dee remarked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Wanna bet?" Ryo retorted.

Dee stuck his tongue out again. Ryo reeled Dee in close for a kiss.

"Ew pervs!" Bikky remarked. "Keep it in the bedroom, please."

Bikky had two fists lightly rapping him on the head. Both men started to laugh as they turned at the corner to walk down the block toward the medical center.

Ryo smiled as he entered the examination room with Bikky. When they arrived, an aide had met them in the waiting room and took Dee in first to take his vitals and get him prepared for the exam. A short while later, the aide told Ryo they could join Dee. They found Dee sitting up on an examination table, wearing a hospital gown.

"You look so funny, Dee," Bikky exclaimed giggling.

"Quiet, kid," Dee remarked, kicking his feet back and forth and obviously wanting more clothes. He looked at Ryo. "And not a word from you either."

"I was only going to say you look adorable, and I love you."

"Oh? Okay, I can accept that, I guess." Dee winked at Ryo.

There was a knock on the door and Vince poked his head in. "Can I come in?" he asked.

Dee lifted his hand to wave to Vince. "I'm not sure. Just because you're my doctor, it won't stop you from teasing me, too."

Vince let out a hearty laugh as he entered the room, holding onto a clipboard. "You're damned right," he said to Dee. "Hi Ryo."

"How's it going, Vince?"

"Great. Notice I don't ask you that question. Because your most likely reply would be dealing with this one's mood swings." He jerked his thumb in Dee's direction.

"Hey!" Dee protested.

Ryo laughed. "I still love him anyway."

Vince winked then turned. "Hiya Bikky. Thanks again for your wonderful gift of allowing David and me a night out. It's been so long since we were able to."

"Hi Doc Vince. Yeah, I heard my dads mention that. I had fun with the rugrats, so as long as it's okay with my dads, I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime."

Vince ruffled Bikky's hair. "You both should be proud. You've got a great kid here."

"Yeah, we do," Ryo agreed. "At least his heart's in the right place." He smiled affectionately at Bikky.

"Nope. We're not trading him in, Vince, no matter how cute your kids are," Dee said with a grin.

Vince looked at Dee. "Don't think I'm ignoring you. Because I have plenty to say to you."

"Oh?" Suddenly Dee looked nervous, his eyes on the chart.

"You feeling good, Dee?" Vince asked, standing before Dee.

Dee nodded. "Yeah. More than the last time we met, at least."

"Still get dizzy going into motion too soon?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I still forget to take it slow at first."

"Apprehend anymore criminals since the last time?" Vince smirked.

Dee snorted. "You think you're so funny."

Vince raised an eyebrow. "Just checking."

"Well, if I did, you'd know about it," Dee chuckled.

"Let's see here," Vince mused, looking over the chart. "Morning sickness decreasing. That's good." He silently read the chart. "Everything looks good, Dee, including your weight."

"Are you sure?" Dee asked, with a hand on his tummy and rubbing it. "I gained almost 10 pounds since the last exam." He looked a little perturbed.

Vince placed the chart on a table and looked steadily at Dee, meeting his eyes. "Which is expected. Are you reading those books, Dee? Or are you suffering from the 'it-won't-happen-to-me' syndrome?" Vince shook his head in amusement as Dee dropped his. "Face it, Dee. You're gaining weight. It's going to seem rapid for another 2 – 4 weeks until you level off, but you still will continue to gain as the baby grows. Expect to be 30 – 45 pounds more than what you were by the time we're about to place that baby in your arms. Of course, by the time you're holding the baby, you'll be about 20 pounds or so lighter than when you woke up that morning."

Dee sighed. "I know. I know all that. It's just hard, you know. All my life, I never had to worry about weight."

Ryo snorted. "Which is amazing when you see what he eats. And that was before he got pregnant."

"Hopefully most of the snacks you have are healthy or at the least contribute to the well being of the pregnancy?" Vince asked Dee.

"I do like yogurt and fruit and have lots of it. But…." He shrugged. "Like I said, it's not easy."

"I'm not going to lie and say it is easy. But you gotta accept the fact." Vince placed his hand on Dee's abdomen. "There's a nicely growing baby, plus the uterine sac. So don't let some woman upset you when she says you're bigger than she was at any given point of this pregnancy. Because you will be. Since the baby housing here," Vince firmly prodded Dee's abdomen, "is subletting space in your body, it needs to compensate for being a temporary tenant. That means thicker lining, more water and chances are, because of the Carrier gene, a bigger baby. The average birth weight for a Carrier is 8 – 12 pounds. So get used to it, Dee. Instead of crying over losing your slim waistline, rejoice that your baby is happily growing inside you. We depend on things like that to monitor the pregnancy. Notice I am not going to hitch your legs in stirrups and stick cold metal instruments up you for an internal. Because you don't have the parts where an internal would do the most good. I can only monitor your vitals, blood count and a few other tricks, but I can't dig up there like an Ob/Gyn can do with a female pregnancy. So we're going to go by sound waves and vibrations. By you listening and paying attention to your body and what's going on with it. When we get to the point that you detect definitely movement, we'll pay more attention to that too. Read the books Dee, so you know what's expected from you in upcoming examines and how to answer my questions. And most important, what's normal and no reason to panic. Hopefully your uterine lining is one of those that will allow us at least one ultrasound at some point. We'll find out soon enough. If we can't get to hear the actual heartbeat through the lining, we'll go by vibration detection."

Ryo stood with a hand on Bikky's shoulder, looking amused at Vince's speech. When the doctor paused, Bikky took a deep breath, as if he was catching his breath. Ryo started to laugh. Dee just stared silently and seemed to catch his breath too.

Once Dee realized Vince was finished, he held up his hands in defeat. "Okay! I surrender. Please, just shut up."

Ryo smirked. "Maybe we should see what Vince has to say about Carrier clothing."

Vince looked from Ryo to Dee. "Are we having issues with wearing comfortable clothing made for your growing needs, Dee?"

"No," Dee snapped out too quickly. He glared at Ryo.

Vince stared at him. "We'll cover that later. Right now, I want to start getting to the main attraction, so Biks can make his meeting."

"Yes!" Bikky exclaimed.

Dee and Ryo laughed with Vince.

"But I just want to add one more thing about our previous topic. You want to go on eating junk food, that will only be that much more to take off after the baby is born. And take a chance at becoming soft. If that happens, you might never get that muscle tone you had back."

Dee paled. Ryo patted Dee's shoulder and Vince smirked.

Bikky laughed. "And that's when Dee will start getting fat. Maybe you might make Chief one day, Dee."

Dee groaned, covering his face with his hand. "Make him stop, please," he muttered.

"Just think about that next time you want to plow through a quart of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk," Vince said. "And yes, I know it's not easy. I went through several quarts of the stuff myself," he chuckled. "Now to move it on. As I said, we might not hear the actual heartbeat. If we don't, we'll still hear something that will signify the heartbeat coming from the baby. Which may not sound so exciting right now, until you all actually hear it."

Vince looked down and smiled at Dee. "Do you even realize you do that?" he asked amused.

Ryo snorted. "Half the time he does."

"Aw hell," Dee said, "I couldn't stop it if I wanted to. But realize it or not, I want to."

"Well, you're going to have to remove your hands from the belly, but you can keep the sappy smile," Vince said to Dee. "Deal?"

Ryo put his arm around Dee's shoulder and kissed his fiancé's cheek. "You just so gosh darned cute sometimes, cutie pie."

"Yeah, but you know what?" Dee asked, smiling up at Ryo. "I also know what I get for being that cute." He winked at Ryo.

Vince laughed, while Bikky looked as if he was trying to figure out what he missed.

"Don't bother, bud," Ryo said to Bikky, chuckling. "'Cause you'll only go, 'EW!' and wish you didn't."

"Oh…" Bikky's eyes went wide, staring up at Ryo in amazement. "EW! Both of you!" Bikky covered his ears with his hands. "LALALALALA…."

Vince pulled a hand away and said, "Keep doing that, you won't hear other things." He walked over to the familiar looking machine he used for Dee's last check up. "Dee, lay back, please."

With a loving smile, Ryo helped Dee lay on his back. Vince took that time to start prodding around Dee's abdomen. "It definitely feels fine, Dee. Very good. Unless you go and do something you shouldn't, I see no risk of separation or rupture."

"Thank goodness," Dee sighed.

Ryo ran his fingers through Dee's hair, noting he felt warm. "And you know those things you shouldn't, right love?" he asked gently.

"Yeah. I know. It's not easy, but I'm being good."

"By the way," Vince said, "did you get the hang of the exercise ball, or get rid of it?"

"I got the hang," Dee said, "and only use it when Ryo can spot me."

"That's a good idea."

"I tell you, if I wasn't so scared, I'd have hurt myself laughing," Ryo said with a chuckle. He could laugh now, being Dee was all right, despite the tumble he took when the exercise ball shot out from under him a few weeks ago. He remembered the look on Dee's face then, and could not help but laugh.

"Yeah, I noticed. But I swear, no more entertainment like that for you," Dee sighed. "I scared the crap out of myself, badly."

"I know you had," Ryo agreed, stifling his laugher as he played with strands of Dee's hair. "Anyway, we have it under control now," he stated to Vince.

"Good. Dee, you'll have another appointment with your trainer in about 3 weeks to learn some 2nd trimester exercises that are good for you. Then after that, you'll make appointments whenever you feel a need to alter something because of…" Vince smirked at Dee and patted his tummy, "this getting in the way."

Dee rolled his eyes, but managed a small grin. He watched on as Vince poked, rubbed and felt the bump. At last, Vince straightened up and smiled at Dee. "Very very good. Now let's take another look on the uterine sac like the last time and then we'll do something new."

"Want to see again?" Ryo asked Dee. He smiled when Dee nodded.

"Yeah. It's not the baby, but then again, it is, if you know what I mean," Dee said.

"I know exactly what you mean. Here, I'll support your neck again so we can watch together."

Vince was smiling as he set up the machine. He winked at Bikky. "Are they always that mushy?"

Bikky nodded. "And it gets worse now that Dee's having a baby."

Vince laughed. "Okay, it's showtime."

When Vince was done and Ryo gently rested Dee's head down, caressing Dee's cheek, Vince cleared his throat. "You're doing fine, Dee. I can tell already we have a very healthy little girl or boy in there."

Dee nodded. "I know. It feels that way."

Vince broke out in a wide smile. "Well, there we go! Keep that up, Dee. It will help us more than you think."

"Dee seems to be getting more sensitive to what's going on inside than he realizes," Ryo stated.

"It happens. And the best way for it to happen. I'd rather like this, than forced, because what Dee will feel and detect will be natural. Now, I know you may not want to be keeping a journal on your thoughts, dreams and fears, Dee. But I want you to start using that part of the journal we gave you to keep track of what you're eating, and list everything. If you cheat by leaving out the cookie dough, you're only cheating yourself and the baby. Got it?"

"Yeah, doc," Dee sighed.

"And anything you think might be worth a mention, get it down. A light flutter, even if we have a few more weeks for that. Breathlessness, dizziness. Every time you feel warmer than you know you should be. All that. It will help us. I'll get a better idea of what we might need to concentrate more on. As I keep saying, every Carrier pregnancy is unique. We're going by standard guidelines, but only your body is going to tell us where we need to increase or decrease anything, including different nutritional values. If you're the type who will flash often, but everything else points to it being normal for you, and not a caution sign, then that cookie dough and fudge might actually be what you need. You're metabolism will need to work something off, and we most certainly don't want it to work off any of the actual pregnancy gain. Now did I make myself clear how important doing this is?"

"Dude, you just told me I might be able to get away with sweet binges. Hell yeah, I'll start keeping track of things," Dee remarked, grinning.

Vince chuckled. "So now that we have that out of the way…." He moved the machine back to it's place and pulled out a second and placed it next to Dee.

Vince held what looked like a shimmery piece of fabric that was connected by a thin tubing of fiber optics to the machine.

"This will definitely tickle, Dee. It's all right to laugh, except you might not hear whatever we'll manage to hear."

"Must you torture me every month with something like this?" Dee grumbled.

"Hey, I gotta have my fun with my work, you know," Vince replied with a grin. "Here, let me put you on a bit of a tilt this time."

Ryo watched fondly as Vince made the top half of the table go up so Dee's upper half was at an angle.

"Comfortable, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "All I need now is a pillow, popcorn, a movie and my snuggle bunny."

Ryo leaned down to kiss Dee. "Later, I'll snuggle you all you want. Hell, after this, try to stop me."

"EW!" Bikky exclaimed again, then laughed when all eyes went on him. "I gotta tease 'em, or else they'll start thinking I don't care anymore." He winked at Vince.

Vince bellowed out his laughter. "Damn fine kid there."

Dee and Ryo shared a loving glance before they gazed at Bikky.

"Scoot a little closer to your dads, Bikky," Vince instructed.

Bikky did as instructed, standing before Ryo, next to Dee. Dee reached out to rub Bikky's arm reassuringly. "Now this is exciting, isn't it?" he asked Bikky.

Bikky nodded.

"I trust you put on the shorts, right Dee?" Vince asked, "because I'm going to lift the gown. We want your naked abdomen now."

"Yeah, they're on. And I still feel naked in this get up."

"Almost done, Dee. Once we're finished with this, I'm going to ask Ryo and Bikky to leave to do some of the boring parts of this exam."

"Bikky will probably have to leave anyway," Ryo stated, ruffling Bikky's hair.

"True, true," Vince stated, covering Dee's bump with the fabric. Dee bristled a little. "I know, it feels like sandpaper at first. Just lay there a moment while I turn this on and…." He walked to the other side of the exam table and turned on some switches. "Would you gentlemen like a recording to take with you?"

"Yes!" Dee exclaimed.

"Cool!" Bikky crowed.

Ryo laughed. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."

Vince smiled and lifted a finger for silence. "Testing… first heartbeat recording of Chibi Laytner-MacLean, January 27, 2006." He flipped another switch.

Ryo ran his fingers lovingly though Dee's hair. He had a sweet smile on his face, his eyes glistening at the identification Vince used for their baby. It seemed more real than ever at that moment for Ryo. His eyes went down to the fabric and the swelled flesh under it. He felt the weight of Dee's gaze on him and he looked up to find Dee smiling at him.

Dee's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Ryo did not need sound. He read the words loud and clear. "I love you so much," Dee had mouthed to him.

At that moment, they heard a faint thump. Vince toggled a button and it came a little louder, faster. Vince grinned, looking first at Dee and Ryo, then at Bikky.

Bikky's mouth was hanging as his eyes went from the speaker on the machine to Dee's stomach and back repeatedly. Dee squirmed a little, stifling a laugh, not wanting it to cut in on the beautiful music that was the heartbeat of their child. Ryo was still playing with his hair, but his other hand took Dee's and entwined their fingers.

Ryo's mouth moved as he silently uttered, "Beautiful."

Dee nodded, tears in his eyes. He squirmed again, still being tickled by the fabric.

For a minute, their world was filled with the sound of the baby's heart beating.

Dee let out a gasp at one point, wide dark green eyes staring down at his tummy and his own mouth dropped.

As Vince turned off the machine, the momentary silence was broken by Dee. "Wow!" he said. The moment Vince removed the cloth, the hand that was not still in Ryo's hand went to his swell. "I swear I was aware of it. Like a flutter or flicker or something with each beat." He sounded awed.

"You're very in tune with this pregnancy, Dee. And that's a wonderful thing. Despite some of your boneheaded protests, where it really matters the most, you're in tune with it," Vince stated. "Now speaking of boneheaded, believe it or not, that was not the actual heartbeat, but the vibrations cause by the motion of the baby's heartbeat. Which is why it sounded a little murky at times. Because like the rest of him, Dee's uterine sac is rather thick-skinned."

Bikky laughed.

"Still a sweet sound," Ryo sighed happily.

"Didn't I tell you?" Vince said with a smile.

"That still came from my little one," Dee said, rubbing his swell.

"Definitely, Dee. And a good strong heartbeat too. Congratulations, Dee. You're got a very healthy pregnancy. Congratulations to you too, Ryo." He looked at Bikky. "So what do you think, Biks? Enjoy hearing your baby sibling?"

Bikky nodded. "Hell yeah! I don't care what some of the other kids say. I'm so lucky."

"Yeah, you are," Ryo laughed. "And you're going to be so late for your meeting too."

"They'll understand, believe me," Vince said. "But you best say goodbye to your dads and get on your way."

"Yeah." He smiled, turning to hug Ryo. "Isn't this the coolest?"

"Definitely the coolest," Ryo laughed, hugging Bikky back.

Bikky faced Dee who was sitting up. "Thanks, Dee. For letting me in on all this neat stuff." He hugged Dee.

"Hey little man, this is your brother or sister," Dee chuckled, hugging Bikky. "You need to get to know him or her, and now's the best time."

Bikky nodded. Quickly he placed his hand on Dee's tummy and leaned his head. "Later chibi." He smiled up at Dee, then sprinted excitedly from the room.

Vince shook his head. "That kid has energy," he remarked.

"Tell me about it," Ryo sighed, then laughed. "I guess I need to find something to do about now too, huh?"

"Well, Ryo. I wouldn't want you to walk around by yourself, not knowing what to do. So I'm providing you some entertainment. I need to you go to the main desk and tell them who you are and that you're ready for your appointment."

"Appointment? For what?" Ryo asked.

"Didn't you read that part in your non-Carrier father's packet?" Vince asked amused. "This is where you go talk to one of our aides and answer a whole bunch of questions, some embarrassing, like your sex life, I need to warn you. You're feelings, any frustrations. This is where we keep you sane and prepared to continue being the rock of support you've been so far for Dee. And each time you accompany him to an exam, during the time I get to do a bunch of embarrassing tests and ask Dee equally embarrassing questions, you get to talk. If you can't make an exam, you'll be scheduled for an appointment at another time."

"Oh."

Dee chuckled. "I knew that."

Ryo glared at Dee.

"I read your packet too. Like you want to know what I'm going through with this pregnancy, I wanted to get an idea of what it will be like for you," Dee explained. "Like everything else in our relationship, it's a two way street, baby. No exceptions."

Ryo's glare turned into a soft tender smile. "I love you. More than I did yesterday. And that's going to be the way until forever." He leaned over to sweetly kiss Dee's lips. Lightly he licked the lower lip. "And tonight when we finally get home, I'm going to be your snuggle bunny and then some," he whispered.

Vince was making himself busy putting away the monitoring machine, smiling to himself.

Dee's eyes widened delightfully. "OH! I should warn you. I'm feeling really good tonight. Not sick or tired, and I'm feeling incredibly loved."

"Let's see what we can do to make you feel even more loved."

"You're doing that already, baby. I love you."

"I love you too, Dee. I'll see you in a little bit."

Dee nodded, then watched as Ryo left the room, looking back and smiling at Dee before closing the door.

"Okay doc. Let's get this part over with. Fire away with your questions. I'm ready for you," Dee said as Vince came over to him, holding a tape measure.

"For starters," Vince said with a smirk, "sit up on the edge of the table again. Then while I measure your ankles and calves, you can tell me how often you had gas, felt bloated and anything else of that nature."

Dee groaned, slapping his forehead. Vince laughed.

A/N: Hey all! Things are really kinda busy for me, so while I'll try to update sooner, expect new chapters about once a month until further notice. Other than getting home from work way late at night and having to wake up before dawn, the little time I have, there's a lot going on.

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Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I'm so glad you're all enjoying this so far. Well, hopefully you also enjoyed this chapter. And once again, in an effort to get this out to you tonight, before another weekend slips away from me, I'm going to hold off on individual replies again. Next time I'm going to try really hard to include them.

Now for some of those asterisks you see now and then in this chapter – Police terms. I'm trying to make them sound like NY cops, so just in case, I'm going to add a couple footnotes here:

ME – Medical Examiner, Country Coroner.

Collar – an arrest.


	4. Wedding Bell Blues

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 4

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

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**January 28, 2006**

It was a bright sunny, if not chilly day. Between the sun and newly fallen snow from the night before and earlier that morning covering the grass, sunglasses were needed against the glare. It was a picturesque winter park scene, with children playing in and snow and riding on sleds.

The foursome made their careful way along the path in Central Park from the parking lot to the Tavern on the Green.

Dee walked between Elena and Ryo, being careful of his footing, despite the cleared path. There were wet patches and Dee did not want to take a chance of discovering a slippery spot. Elena had an arm around Dee's as they walked. On his other side, Ryo maintained a gentle hand on Dee's lower back. Rick walked behind the three.

"We're going to have such a wonderful brunch," Elena gushed. "This place is most delightful. Isn't it, Dee?"

Dee nodded indulgently. The four of them had gone there several times before, since Ryo had first introduced his then work partner and budding best friend to his aunt and uncle. It was the first time they had gone to the well known restaurant as two couples. "Yes, we are," he agreed.

Behind them Rick rolled his eyes. Ryo happened to have glanced behind them to catch his uncle. He winked, grinning at Rick. "And remember, Dee," Ryo said, rubbing a small circle where his hand rested on Dee's back, "order away, because we're not paying."

Elena leaned forward to look across Dee and glare at Ryo, while Rick gaffawed. Ryo looked at his aunt innocently. "No? We're paying?" he asked.

"Of course, we're paying. We are the ones pulling you two out for a nice meal in a fine establishment," Elena stated.

"Now Elena, I'm sure the boys don't need us to eat in nice places," Rick replied.

"I didn't say they don't. But with a detective's pay, I'm sure it's not as often as they'd like. Isn't that right?" she asked Dee and Ryo.

"Well, take out usually works just fine for us," Ryo replied. "We save the nice places for special occasions. Makes them more special." He winked at Dee, who grinned back at him.

"Besides, since both Ryo and I know how to cook, it's not like we have to always buy out," Dee stated.

"You boys are just so adorable," Elena stated, squeezing Dee's arm.

Dee allowed himself to be lead up the walk to the front entrance of the restaurant on the perimeter of Central Park, with Ryo at his side. They remained silent as they went through the motions of being taken to their table in one of the many elegant sections of the restaurant, allowing the talking, wheeling and dealing for a prime table to Elena.

Seated at their table, Elena smiled over at Dee. "That shirt looks good on you, Dee. It's more your color than Rick's."

"Well…. Thanks," he said to Elena. Dee looked over to Rick. "Thanks for the clothes."

When Rick and Elena arrived early, Rick had given Dee a suitcase of his clothes since the younger man was slight in build comparing to Rick.

Rick laughed. "I'll have to admit they fit you better than when Elena was at that point in pregnancy and started to steal my things."

"Oh you," Elena chuckled, lightly slapping Rick's arm.

"I do appreciate it," Dee stated sincerely, touched by the gesture. "It's not like I can grab Ryo's clothes to relieve the problem since we're more or less the same build."

Ryo shook his head. "Yet he still managed to take over a few of my sweaters," Ryo chuckled. "But this should do for a few more weeks."

Dee frowned a little, knowing what Ryo meant. In a few more weeks, Ryo was expecting Dee to give up trying to wear normal clothing and finally start to wear Carrier clothing.

"Oh why the pout, sweetness?" Elena asked.

"C'mon Dee," Ryo said. "Didn't Vince talk to you about that yesterday?"

"Yeah, he did. And I don't have to like everything he says," Dee replied. "So can we just drop the topic for now, please."

"I don't know about anyone else," Rick spoke up, "but I'm starving. Elena fed the kids before we left, but decided we could wait until we got here to eat. Sadistic woman, your aunt can be sometimes, Ryo."

Ryo laughed. "Oh yes indeed. I know she can."

"You two stop picking on me," Elena pouted.

"Oh why the pout, auntie dear?" Ryo asked way too innocently.

Dee nearly choked on the water he was sipping. Placing the glass down, he joined Ryo and Rick in laughter.

"Fine. It's pick on Elena day today," Elena started, picking up her menu. "Like that's never happened before."

All three men opened their mouths with a comeback, but Elena was spared when a waiter came to take their drink orders. Their conversation turned to general topics. The night before, Ryo had called his aunt and uncle, specifically requesting no mention of the Carrier that was killed. It was stressful subject for both Dee and Ryo. They talked about Stefen, Dani and Bikky. At times the baby would come up, once again reaffirming Elena and Rick's excitement. They paused in their talk as they gave their orders.

When the waiter walked away, Elena asked about the appointment the day before. Dee easily answered her questions. This was the type of enthusiasm Dee enjoyed from Ryo's guardians. No pressure, just happiness and excitement about the baby, and their relationship. Some mention of the wedding came up, but nothing too pressing. Again, just excitement that they were planning on getting married. Dee had no doubt that Rick and Elena were happy for the two of them, and glad that he was the one their nephew decided to spend his life with. It made him feel good.

It was a shame that they were halfway through the main course when things started to go downhill.

"Oh look," Elena gushed, looking out a window. "It looks like there's a wedding here in one of the other rooms. I should have known when I couldn't get a reservation for the Crystal Room."

"It's a good thing we got here when we did," Ryo mused. "I'll bet the parking lot is filling up by now."

Rick suddenly looked uncomfortable, becoming more interested in his food than was necessary. Dee wished he had the same option.

"I'd bet a wedding here would be just lovely," Elena purred. "I don't know why we didn't think of it. Dee, wouldn't it be grand to add this place to your selections?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah. It is nice," he agreed. He had to admit to himself that the Victorian style restaurant was a good option to him. It was opulent, yet still quaint and warm. Dee liked the place and had always enjoyed when he had a chance to go there. Unfortunately it was not any of the places he had compiled and planned to present to Ryo soon.

"I wouldn't pick this room," Elena said, looking around. "It's lovely enough for a nice Saturday brunch, but not for my favorite nephews' wedding."

Dee tried to occupy himself with cutting his steak and hoped to be spared from replying. He cursed himself for the hundredth time since this started. He had never had a problem to say what was on his mind before, and most times, still did not. He just could not find it in him to go directly against Elena with this. Mostly because he knew her heart was in the right place. He did not want to appear to be ungrateful for her support, or hurt her feelings. It was obvious she had long ago made grand plans for her only nephew's wedding. For all Dee knew, she could have been planning it shortly after becoming Ryo's guardian. Hell, Dee mused not for the first time, this could have been something both Elena and Ryo's mother had started to work out when Ryo was a teenager or younger. Boys were not known to plan their weddings since they were five years old, so the older women in their lives did that planning for them. Especially in well to do families such as theirs.

There was an order people of money did things. Dee learned this through his life, seeming to always look in from the outside. On the whole he was glad of that. There was something unnatural about it to Dee. Even as down to earth that Elena was most times, there were others when her upbringing would show.

The fact that there was not an engagement party or newspaper announcements in the social section was only because the majority of the MacLeans were still processing one of their own planning a gay wedding and had fathered a child with a Carrier. A Carrier who was from a low breeding stock as far as most of Ryo's family was concerned. They were yet to figure out how to handle proper social etiquette without making themselves look bad – or like the bad guys.

Dee hoped they could forge ahead and be married before something was worked out. Engagement photos had been taken, at Elena's request, a couple of weeks back and waiting for Dee to decide on an invitation design, so the announcement cares could go out to family and friends.

Dee gazed at Ryo as Elena spoke, feeling guilty for being glad Ryo's fortune had been cut off with his parents, the majority of their assets still frozen. They would most probably stay that way, since Ryo showed zero interest in getting any of it back. He had accomplished the single one thing he had wanted the most surrounding his parents' death. He had cleared their names and proven their innocence. Everything else seemed trivial to Ryo.

Yet, Dee mused, having a little extra money to play with would be nice given their current situation. The thought of getting a car after the baby was born fluttered in his mind several times, making it easier to get around with the baby. The thought of crowded subway trains and his newborn did not sit well with Dee. The car itself they might able to swing, provided it was a used one. It was the insurance, and having a guaranteed parking space, preferably near to the building they lived in that would cost more than they could afford. Having a little extra money could also mean not being afraid to spend a little more and give both the baby and Bikky better things than he had for himself. Now he would have to cut back on some of the things he enjoyed to do for Bikky.

"Dee, darling, you're quiet," Elena broke into his thoughts. "What room would you pick here for a wedding?"

Dee shrugged, playing with his food. "I don't know. It's all very nice."

"Well, I think both the Crystal Room and Pavilion would be just grand," she stated. "Matter of fact, we can have a tent set up just outside for the ceremony itself." She reached across the table to grab Dee's right hand. "You did say you would have liked to have an outdoor wedding. Unfortunately it's too cold to stand under the sky itself, but a tent could be lovely. With heating lamps and candles. Oh Dee, that would be just delightful. And we'll be surrounded by the beauty of the park. What do you say, sweetness? I know several event coordinators who do miracles with tents. I'll give them a call today and have them send over their portfolios for you and Ryo to go over."

Dee bit back a groan of more folders to look at from Elena. More over extravagant, over priced… just over everything. He hid the groan and bought himself some time to reply by shoving a thick French fry into his mouth.

"We can look over the tent idea," Ryo replied with a smile, turning his attention to Dee and smiling. "That might be a wonderful compromise. What do you think, Dee?"

Dee mutely nodded, still chewing the French fry. He was partial to the idea. A tent ceremony did sound like a good compromise to an outdoor wedding in the winter, but not at the extremes he knew Elena was going to push on them.

"That's settled then. I'll get those designs over to you ASAP, because we don't have much time to make final choices. There's still so much to do and choose. Flowers, invitations, lighting… oh, I could go on forever."

"And if you do, these two will never get married, dove," Rick piped in.

Both Dee and Ryo chuckled at Rick's quip.

"Oh hush you. What do you know about weddings anyway? All you needed was the date and time to be ready to get picked up." Elena shook her head fondly. "It's just a given with men. Oh, I didn't mean you two. You're different. You'll make the basic choices and then be given dates and times, of course," she said to Ryo and Dee.

Dee's eyes opened wide. "I would like a little more input," Dee stated.

Elena patted his hand. "Don't be silly, lamb. Despite you having that baby and having a physical relationship with my darling nephew, you're not that gay to handle such a task, Dee. Leave all the details to those who were meant to do these things."

"But…" Dee attempted to protest.

He had already lost Elena's attention as she muttered to herself. "Of course, we need to look over some of those other places and see what options we have to outdoor in terms of a tent. Maybe a rooftop wedding at the Le Meridien. Oh definitely an option. I'll call them too, and see if they can accommodate us. Then next week, we'll all sit down again. You give me a place and a package, and your stationery pattern and we'll get this wedding on the road. No later than the end of March, right Dee?"

Dee nodded, finally at a loss for words. He had no idea how to get out of this delicately and get back control of his wedding.

He felt Ryo's arm go around his shoulders. Ryo pulled him close for a kiss. "Isn't this just wonderful, Dee? Leave it to Elena and by next week, we'll know exactly when we'll be getting married." He kissed Dee again.

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Dee was in a definite bad mood by the time they returned from their afternoon with Rick and Elena. Elena continued to ramble on and on about her wedding ideas for the rest of her time with them. She had went as far as start picking out their wedding theme and colors. Which was just as well, according to Ryo, since the two of them could not seem to come up with it themselves. At Elena's request, they had stopped in the office of an decorative arts consultant who specialized in nurseries and provided them with drafts of his concept on how the nursery would look like.

Rich and Elena dropped them off in front of their building, and the older couple had driven of to head back to their home on Long Island. They entered the apartment and Dee tossed all the folders, portfolios and draft paper into the trash can on the way to get a snack.

"Dee, what is wrong with you?" Ryo asked, following Dee, seeming more than slightly annoyed. "You were almost rude to Elena and Rick when they dropped us off." His eyes went to the trash can. "I can't believe that's how you're considering, Dee."

Dee pulled out a container of ice cream and a spoon, and upon opening the lid, started to shovel the ice cream right out of the container to his mouth. As he ate, he wandered about the kitchen, deciding on what else he wanted, but not sure until he saw it. A few months before, Dee would have soothed his frustrations out with a cigarette, or three. Since he had stopped smoking that day in Los Angeles, he had started to rely on snack food for an outlet.

"Dee!" Ryo called out sharply.

Dee twirled around, only to shut his eyes for a moment to fight off the wave of dizziness from the sudden move. "What?" he asked, getting his bearing again.

Ryo pointed to the trash can. "That man spent a lot of time working on those nursery designs."

"And he can shove them off on some other sucker, because I didn't ask him to do it for us," Dee remarked. "I don't want some stranger who never saw that room decide what our baby should have. What the fuck was Monday all about anyway, Ryo? What happened to the items we have in mind when it's time to start working on the nursery?"

Ryo shrugged. "Okay, fine. But Elena has a point of bringing in professional to do the work in there. So we go back to him with our choices and let him redo the designs."

Dee shook his head. "No!"

"No?"

Dee looked up at Ryo. "I do not want a stranger designing or working on the nursery for our baby, Ryo. No."

"Then who the hell is going to do the actual work, Dee? You?" Ryo actually snorted.

"Yes, me." Dee went to the stove and turned on the burner under the tea kettle.

"Yeah right. By the time you feel we can start selecting and buying things for the nursery, you'll be way too pregnant to do anything like that," Ryo commented.

Dee slammed the tea kettle on the stove. He bit his lip against any reply that he might regret later.

"You have to be kidding me, Dee?"

Dee took a deep breath. "I figured me and you. It won't be as daunting as what we did with the apartment. We can ask for help from Barry, maybe even the guys at work. That's what I want, Ryo. I want us, I want people who care about this baby to do the nursery." Dee turned and leaned against a counter, picking up his ice cream again. "I want that nursery to be built in love, Ryo. Can't you fuckin' understand that?"

Ryo drew a deep breath. Dee watched all the fire leave Ryo. "Oh god, baby. I'm sorry," Ryo stated softly. He took a tentative step toward Dee. "I'm so freakin' sorry. Putting it that way, you're right. But Dee, please. You can pick and choose anything you like, but leave the heavy duty work for the rest of us. Okay?" He closed the distance between them, and gently removing the ice cream container from Dee's hold, he set it on the counter and pulled Dee into a hug. "Please, baby?"

Dee put his arms around Ryo and placed his head next to Ryo's. "Yeah. So long as I can still direct," he stated.

"Of course," Ryo agreed, tilting his head to compensate for the slight difference in their height and kissed Dee. "Mmm… chocolate raspberry truffle." He closed in for a second kiss, deeper, causing Dee to moan into the kiss. "I love you, Dee," Ryo intoned.

"I love you too, Ryo," Dee sighed, going in for another kiss.

The tea kettle started to whistle as they continued to kiss, Dee pressed up against the counter. Ryo pulled back, smiling at Dee. He ran a hand through Dee's dark hair, which fell onto his face. "You know what I think?"

"Hm?" Dee asked.

"I think you need to lay down for a bit."

"Only if I have help," Dee grinned. He turned to pick up the ice cream and scooped out a spoonful. He held it out in offer to Ryo, who opened his mouth. Dee's eyes went wide with delight as he watched Ryo slowly and sensuously eat the ice cream from the spoon. As Dee pulled the empty spoon away from Ryo, the older man gazed up at Dee, licking his lips.

"I think the tea can wait," Dee said, reaching blindly to find the top to the container.

Ryo reached behind Dee and held it out. Dee closed the container and when Ryo moved away, he went to put away the ice cream. Ryo turned off the burner, and held his hand out to Dee. "C'mon baby. Let's relax a little."

Dee grinned as he put his hand in Ryo's and allowed himself to be lead to the bedroom. "I like your method of relaxing," he stated, leaning forward to lightly brush his lips on Ryo's ear.

"Oh, you're going to get it for that," Ryo replied, shivering.

"I hope so," Dee replied.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bikky excused himself to go to his room after the three finished cleaning up after dinner. Dee was in the den, pulling together everything on what he wanted to show Ryo on what he wanted for a wedding. He realized despite adding through the week, thanks to suggestions from Diana and JJ, that his heart was set on the glass covered dinner yacht. He hoped they would be able to get it on a date within their range.

He heard the phone ring and Ryo calling out from the living room that he'd get it. When he heard Ryo greet his grandfather, Dee knew he had some time to kill, so he sat down at the desk in the den and worked in making his collection of wedding choices more presentable.

Ryo noticed the phone number on caller ID. "Good evening, Grandfather," he answered politely.

"Randy, my boy. How are you doing?"

"Very well. And you?" he asked.

"As well as can be expected."

Ryo heard the hesitation in his grandfather's reply. "Family giving you angst again?"

"As always. And then we have the uproar and excitement you caused by announcing your plans to marry – and your upcoming fatherhood."

Ryo sighed. "Look, why don't you get right to the point, Grandfather. You're calling about the wedding money, aren't you?"

"It's yours, Randy. You are a MacLean. You have the full amount to spend."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

"Your Grandmother is in a bit of a tizzy, I fear. We still expect proper etiquette, no matter how untraditional your plans are. Most of the distant relatives are unaware of your upcoming wedding, Randy. And I expect them to learn the proper way – sending announcement cards."

"I will, Grandfather. Just as soon as we decide on the stationery."

"What's taking you so long? You're getting married by when? The end of March. Randy, son, that's hardly enough time to plan out a proper wedding. There's parties to attend and details."

"We'll pass on the parties," Ryo said, shuddering.

"It's the MacLean way. You're lucky your Aunt Elena is such an exceptional organizer. She is certain you'll have the wedding of your dreams and then some in time. I do wish you would wait."

"Why? Hoping I'd decide I don't want to marry Dee?"

"I did not say that, Randy."

"You don't have to, Grandfather."

"I'm not overjoyed with your decision, Randy, but it is your life. And a legal wedding is a legal wedding and the family right is yours. I was talking to your Grandmother the other day and I have to admit, we're not all that surprised."

Ryo snorted. "About what? My marrying Dee? Or being gay?"

"Both. What we are surprised is that it is Dee with child," his grandfather remarked. "Not that Carriers were ever in our family until your mother, mind you."

Ryo blew out a breath. "So tell me how come I'm finding out all of this now? About Carriers in my mother's family and how they infiltrated the pure MacLean bloodline with not only Asian blood, but Carriers."

"Randy, relax. I'm not calling you to fight. Just to confirm things. And I promised your grandmother to talk to you about some things."

Ryo sat down on the couch, noting Dee remained in the den. Whenever the MacLeans called, however rare, his lover would stay in another room.

"Randy, I just need to know this is absolutely what you want."

"Grandfather, if I had to choose between Dee and my family, Dee would win."

For a very long minute there was silence.

"I'm glad you feel that way. This is a hard life you're choosing for yourself," his grandfather said quietly into the uncomfortable silence. There was just something subtle in the tone that suggested Franklin MacLean was not glad at all.

"You speak as if I just hooked up with Dee," Ryo remarked.

"Randy, I cannot say I condone such behavior, but playing with a boytoy is much different than marrying one and raising a family."

"Grandfather," Ryo stated a little gruffly, "Dee's not a boytoy. And we have been raising a son together. Remember Bikky? And it's a little too late to change my mind about the new baby. It's already on the way, and I'm not giving it, or Dee, up for anything."

"Bikky. Oh yes. The street urchin you felt sorry for. He hasn't run away with what little in anything of value you have yet?" the elder MacLean haughtily remarked.

"No!" Ryo growled. "Bikky is a wonderful son, and we're terribly proud of him."

"You are your father's son, I'm afraid. As the only child to my eldest son, you should be my heir. However your father made that impossible when he cut most of his fortune by his own choice."

"Meaning he married my mother," Ryo stated.

"We gave him chances to redeem himself. To redeem you. Just as we offered to you a chance to have what your father tossed away. But what do you choose with your life? The Army, as a commoner at that."

"It's called enlisted, Grandfather."

"We could have obtained an appointment in West Point for you."

Ryo shook his head. "I didn't want to go to West Point."

"You gave up on college," his grandfather continued.

"I took classes while I was in the Army, then got my law bachelor's after."

"In what type of college?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, Randall, it does."

"Don't call me that."

"You became a low paying cop, live in a dump, became a detective." His grandfather sighed. "At least your father chose a reputable and lucrative career."

"We've been through this already, Grandfather. Lots of times."

"And like your father, you choose a commoner. If you must be involved with men, you could have at least picked a Carrier that was from better breeding stock."

"Look Grandfather. I am getting married to Dee, and we're pregnant. If you don't want to give me the money, just say so and we'll figure out something. I've gotten by without you, I can get married without you too."

"As I said, the money is yours, Randall. If I take away your birthright, then you will have nothing other than your name. You are intending on keeping it, I hope."

"Yes," Ryo replied. "I am."

"So Dee is taking your name? Well, he is the pregnant one."

"And I am also changing my name. We decided we will combine our names. Laytner-MacLean. That will be our last name."

His grandfather sighed. "I am getting too old for this. I went through it enough with your father. Expect the American Express card within a day or two. Your grandmother will be calling you at some point this week, expecting you and your fiancé to join her for dinner one day soon. Meanwhile I have matters to attend to. It has been nice speaking to you, Randy."

"Thank you for the wedding," Ryo stated. "And tell Grandma I look forward to hearing from her. Good night."

He hung up the phone, placed the receiver on the coffee table, and dropped his head in his hands. What was he doing? he wondered about taking the wedding money from his grandfather. Somewhere, somehow there was going to be a catch.

He leaned back in against the soft comfortable back of the couch, and looked around at the apartment. They had fine quality furniture, even if it was not some designer name or needed to be insured with Llyods of London or some other company that handled insurance for antiques and fine art. The apartment was tastefully appointed, and very large. He did great with his life – with Dee he did it. Dee provided the means to afford it. Together they created a beautiful apartment that was also a home. Together, they gave a real home to Bikky. The change in Bikky was obvious since they all moved in together. The boy was still prone to trouble, and still had most of his street kid ways, but a lot of the anger from his earlier life was gone. Bikky enjoyed having two loving fathers, and yet felt comfortable enough to tease not only Dee, but Ryo, at times. They were a family to be proud of, no matter what someone else might say about it. Now they were bringing a baby into the world and to be part of their family.

His grandfather would never understand what being truly happy was all about. He had half a mind to tell Dee all the things his grandfather had to say and let Dee at him. After he had the money. He kept himself from doing that because he knew why he was doing what he was.

It was for Dee. Dee deserved a beautiful wedding to make up for his hard start in life. Because Dee was wonderful and beautiful and loving and kind… and Dee deserved a big beautiful wedding and so much more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ryo?" Dee called, entering the living room.

"Oh hey Dee. Everything okay?"

Dee nodded, looking down at Ryo on the couch. "Ignore him," he said.

"I'm trying. It should be easy because he's not going to make me change my mind and I told him enough times."

"He's trying to break us up?"

"No. He would not stoop so low. Besides, he dealt with my dad. He knows a brick wall when he sees one. He did say I'm my father's son, after all." Ryo smiled up at him. "At least we are getting the wedding money."

"Okay," Dee said, sitting down next to Ryo and placing his arm around his shoulder. "Explain to me about this money. Because I'm lost here about something."

"What's that?"

"Why do we have to plan to spend so much? Why can't we take some of the money to put toward Bikky and the chibi?"

"It doesn't work that way. We might luck out through my grandmother to get the chibi set up with a trust fund. That would be the account for that. We can do quite well with wedding gifts too. My family has been known to not only give material things, but money. Just to fling it around to show they have it, of course. Which would benefit us. So the more of my relatives we have at our wedding, the better off we're going to be financially to get by after. Then, if I know Grandma, you, my darling pregnant fiancé, will have to endure a baby shower at some extravagant place with lots of relatives who won't know how to act around a pregnant man, but we'll make out like bandits with baby things and more money." He leaned over to kiss Dee's nose, smiling. "But fear not, I'll be there to share your embarrassment and help you getaway with the loot."

Dee looked as if he did not know how to react. "I guess I have a few more months before worrying about that, if it happens."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah. Now, the wedding money is just that. The inner circle of this branch of MacLeans have access to a special account put aside only for wedding expenses. Because no MacLean should have a simple wedding. My mother agreed to it. It turned out to be to her advantage."

Dee leaned against Ryo. "I'm sure. But like Elena did mention earlier, unlike your mom, I haven't been planning my wedding since I was five."

"Oh? So when did you start planning yours?" Ryo asked, teasing Dee.

Dee grinned. "About two months after I met you."

"Dee," Ryo sighed, turning his head to kiss Dee properly. "So anyway, that is why wedding money should be used only for a wedding. Most times, the fiancé will also come from a family of well means and add their own amount to the wedding. We don't really have that option, Dee. Without this money, we might as well go to City Hall tomorrow and get married. Because we shouldn't spend what we have on a wedding. Not with a baby on the way."

Dee nodded. "And here I thought you were losing your common sense about money." He chuckled. "Okay, fine. We have money to spend on a wedding." He briefly kissed Ryo, then stood up, holding Ryo's hand and pulling him up with him.

"Then we're in agreement over this?"

"Yes." He studied Ryo as he pulled him into the dining room. "Okay, I know that look. Spill."

"Look Dee, I don't care if we meet with Elena or not next weekend," Ryo said with a sigh. "But we have the money now."

"And?"

"At some point tonight I know I'm going to hear from you about a date."

"And the problem?"

"The problem is that I'm tired of you bitching about having no plans yet, but you don't pick anything to give me something to work with. Hell, Dee, we don't even have wedding stationary picked out."

"You make it sound as if it's my fault."

"It is, Dee. You're the reason we're at a standstill here, with time ticking away, so don't blame me with this. I've been doing everything I can to get this show on the road. And you have plenty to choose from."

Dee released his hold on Ryo's hand and frowned. "I don't like 'em," he replied.

Ryo rolled his eyes, feeling frustrated. "Here we go again. You don't like any of those beautiful weddings Elena was kind enough to inquire about for us. Fine. So what do you like, Dee? Did you even take time to consider that? Or have you been putting all your energy into complaining about what you don't want."

Dee's eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say here?"

"That at times you have a habit of complaining, yet take no action for a solution."

Dee clenched his jaw. "Oh, so what you're saying is that I'm the problem, huh?" He turned away from Ryo and strode into the den, his temper on a fast rise.

Ryo should had noticed the shift of a downward mood swing.

It had been a trying day for Dee. He had attempted to get into a better mood once they returned home. Only for the time he had a little bedroom playtime with Ryo he felt the mood leave completely. Every time he thought he was feeling better, he felt himself once again being backed into the proverbial corner because of the wedding planning. He did not like that feeling before he was prone to mood swings. It was worse now. His emotions were fast out of control as he entered the den and not in a good way. He wanted to sit down and cry, he wanted to scream and yell in frustration, and he wanted to get angry and snap at Ryo for allowing Elena to take over the wedding planning. All at the same time.

"Ha! I knew it," Ryo remarked, taking Dee's walking away as a dismissal.

"You know shit," Dee snapped, picking up the plastic expanding folder. He went back into the dining room and dropped it on the table before Ryo. "I've been busy plenty. Here. My ideas for a wedding."

Ryo looked up at Dee, then down to the folder. He opened it and except for a few folios, it was all printouts from the internet.

Ryo flipped through the various papers, looking at what Dee was offering for their wedding. He put them aside and picked up the first of the folios. "Chelsea Piers?" he asked, amazed.

"Yeah. There's two really nice places there…."

Ryo snorted. "Can we advertise that we're low class anymore than this?" he asked.

"Low class? Ryo, have you even looked at the prices? Especially including the ceremony there," Dee pointed out.

Ryo shook his head, his mouth a tight line. "It's under a gym, Dee."

Dee grinned. "So? Have you gotten to know me? Besides, it's call a health club and a spa. We go to the Field House there because we can't afford membership to the 'club'. But to be honest, that's my second choice."

"Oh? So what's your first?"

Dee slid out the folios for the yacht. "This."

Ryo barely glanced at it. "No way, Dee. Don't be stupid," he said quickly.

Dee's anger rose as quickly as his hurt. Any small reign he had on his swirling emotions had snapped. All he had put up with Elena's suggestions and Ryo barely glanced at his before saying no. "Stupid?" he yelled, blowing up. "Just what the fuck is so stupid about it? From what I hear, it's all the rage with the rich and snobby."

"For one thing I couldn't fit everyone," Ryo remarked calmly. He attempted to remain sensible, and make Dee see reason. He also hoped to calm his lover down. Dee was visibly on a bad down swing, fueled with anger. Ryo needed to soothe Dee, but wondered who was going to soothe his own emotions which were not on the good side. He saw Dee as being stubborn and refusing to take a good look at all options available to him, as well as being selfish. Ryo felt his anger shift and he was ready to finally get it all out in the open once and for all.

"Exactly," Dee crowed. "Gives us a reason to cut the guest list to under 250."

"I need more than that, Dee. Especially if my family is paying for it, anyone who wants to go should be allowed. Besides, didn't you just hear what I said about inviting as many of my family as possible?"

"I don't want them all there, Ryo!" Dee roared, his face red. "Your family gathers for train wrecks. They stare and gawk and talk with their noses up in the air. I don't want that on my wedding day, Ryo." Dee felt himself near tears with frustration. If he could get married without any of Ryo's family, other than Elena and Rick, he would be a happy man.

"If we gave them more than what they're expecting from us, they're less likely to gawk at you," Ryo snapped back, his last nerve finally stepped on. He was tired of backing down, tiptoeing around, afraid that he might upset Dee. Maybe if they finally let it out, they could sit down and concentrate on the important matters at hand. Like getting married.

"That's making me feel better, Ryo," Dee said, his eyes flashing.

"It's true, and we both know it," Ryo remarked. "We need to give them a wedding to take their eyes off the freaks."

Dee's eyes widened and hurt replaced anger for a moment. Dee rested his hand on his swollen abdomen and took a step back from Ryo.

"Dee, I didn't mean that's how I feel. But them… c'mon Dee, even you admitted that much."

Dee dropped his hand and balled both hands into fists. "Screw it, Ryo!" he roared. "They can keep their fuckin' money and their high assed wedding and all that phony bullshit. I don't want it!"

"And do what then?" Ryo demanded. "On what we have? We just went over this, Dee. We can't afford anything decent on our own. We need help. So I get my due from my family, we suck it up for a day and get married. How many others do you know from where you came from had a wedding grand enough for a prince? Huh, Dee?"

In his current state, Dee's mind filtered out and centered on key things: "from where you came from" and sucking it up for Ryo's family on their wedding day. On _his_ wedding day.

"You know what?" Dee yelled. "I don't give a shit about what they want. I really don't care much about what you want either right now. It's _MY FUCKIN' WEDDING_ and if I want to get married in the streets between two flaming garbage cans by some bum I paid to have ordained for the day, then that's what I'm going to fuckin' do! Get it. MY WEDDING! Not Elena's, not the tight-assed MacLeans. MINE!"

"Then you'll be getting married by yourself, because I won't be at 'your' wedding," Ryo snapped out without thinking.

Dee's eyes flashed with raw fury. "You bastard!" he screamed furious. "You goddamn fucking bastard!" He shot through the dining room, shoving Ryo out of the way, into the living room. A moment later, Ryo heard the bedroom door slam shut.

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A/N: Sorry sorry sorry… I did mean to get this out earlier. Hell, I've even received messages asking for an update. My only excuse is getting home late from work these days and working on translating the new FAKE extras at the end of the reissue in Japan. But here it is. Thanks for waiting. And as always for letting me know you're enjoying this. +HUGS+

I'm going to try very very hard to post the next chapter within a week, two at the latest, because I don't want to keep everyone hanging too long at where it leaves off. And I'm gonna shut up now and get this posted already.


	5. Aftermath

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 5

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

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Ryo sighed, slumping against the display wall unit. His first impulse was to go after Dee, let him know he did not mean it as it sounded. He wanted to go to 'their' wedding. He decided against going into the bedroom just then. They were both stressed and high strung from wedding plans and work. The Carrier case was wearing them out, despite two days of attempting to ignore it. Unsuccessfully. You can't just ignore something like that. Especially with Dee being pregnant. It was harder fighting to maintain a normal life than to give into fears. Dee's hormones were raging out of control at that moment. Ryo realized it when Dee's face, right to the roots of his hair, down to his shoulders turned red. There was no reasoning with Dee at times like that.

Ryo knew had had to cool down himself, get a grip. His talk with his grandfather disturbed him more than he first admitted to himself. He finally understood what his father had gone through to marry his mother. The only thing that had kept a lid on his own rising stress levels and anger was knowing despite everything, his father had married his mother. They had done quite well on their own without any help from his grandfather's family, and Ryo was certain he would prove the same thing with Dee to his family. As far as Ryo was concerned they were on their way all ready.

If he went into the bedroom now, there would not be any making up. They would just end up taking more cheap shots at their backgrounds in anger, toss out more harsh words to regret later. And who knows what Dee would twist them into when he was in a mood. This was not just any mood. It was a major one.

It was best just to leave Dee on his own for a while.

He considered postponing the wedding. He did warn Dee that if he felt things were getting too stressful with planning, he would hold it off until after the baby was born. It would be best for Dee and the baby. At least both would be healthy then.

Ryo found himself once again cursing himself for stupidity. He really lost control of his temper and was starting to regret it. While he was taking a guilt trip, he cursed his earlier stupidity. If he didn't take two years to finally admit to something that was pretty obvious from the start, and then take another year to decide he could not live apart from Dee, they could have been married already. Then they would only have the baby to concentrate on.

Ryo got up and went into the kitchen. He needed to do something constructive until either Dee came out of the bedroom or he felt enough time had gone by to go in and smooth things over with Dee. He decided to make chocolate yogurt mousse parfaits, knowing Dee loved them. He would use Dee's latest fruit combo in it – bananas and raspberries. Hopefully by then, they both would be calm enough to make up over Ryo's peace offering.

Then deal again with Dee. Ryo sighed. He had to admit, the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that a wedding at this time just might not be healthy for Dee or the baby. They could take their time planning without a fast approaching deadline, and not have to spare anything.

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Bikky was in his room, changing CDs when he heard them. It was not one of Ryo's snits when Dee would do something stupid. The arguing had been worse in the last couple of weeks. His dads were arguing again. Bikky hated when they did that lately. It was because it seemed to happen quite often. He understood Dee getting in moods at times. Other kids at the meetings shared similar stories on when their Carrier dads would get unreasonable for a while. Bikky learned to just stay clear of Dee for the time and then later let Dee know he loved him.

Too bad Ryo did not learn as well. Ryo could still be quite dense. That's when they would argue. At least they made up quickly enough after. Then there was the wedding planning. Bikky had to admit to himself that half the time Ryo was not dense, but just plain stubborn and stupid. Why was it so important to have all that rich people stuff, Bikky wondered. Ryo never seemed to care much about it before.

Bikky could tell Dee was uncomfortable with all the places Ryo expected Dee to choose from. He heard Dee mention once that he would prefer to use most of the wedding money on Bikky and the baby.

Bikky found himself on Dee's side. He felt sorry for Dee, because as much as Bikky also loved his other dad, Ryo was just being stupid and annoying.

Before he had a chance to change his CD, he heard their voices get louder in the dining room. They said things he had never heard them say to each other before. He found himself standing at the door listening. Dee was angry, but Bikky knew enough about his adopted father to tell the anger was to hide how upset he really was. The way they fought and the words said scared Bikky. Then he heard Ryo say the impossible, followed shortly by Dee storming to their bedroom.

After a few minutes of quiet, he dared to peak his head out the door. He heard Ryo in the kitchen. Quickly he went from his room to the dining room, and slipped into the living room without Ryo noticing him. He went to the door of his dads' bedroom.

Softly he knocked on the door. Dee did not sound right to Bikky at the end, and he wanted to make sure he was okay. Dee did not reply to the knock. Bikky put his ear to the door and almost gasped at what he heard. Dee was crying. He was crying harder than he had during Settling.

That worried Bikky more. He almost ran right to Ryo, but decided to check on Dee first, make sure he was feeling well. Bikky was afraid something was wrong with the baby now because of Dee's anger. He had to make sure first. He also knew Ryo enough that even if his other adopted father was still furious at Dee, he'd freak at the mere thought that something was wrong. He did not want to frighten Ryo if it was not necessary. His dads may have been fighting a lot lately, but he also knew they still loved each other very much and worried about the other. Especially Ryo these days when it came to Dee.

Bikky would make sure nothing was wrong with Dee, that he was just upset, so Ryo would not worry about it, then he'd get Ryo. And if Dee did need help but couldn't move, he would grab the phone while he rushed to get Ryo.

He tried the door knob and the door opened. He poked his head in.

"Dee?" he asked, looking over to the bed. "Dee!" he cried out, rushing into the room, toward the bed.

Dee was curled up in a ball on the bed, hugging a pillow – Ryo's pillow, Bikky noted. He was crying hysterically, his body shaking from the sobs. It did not relieve any of Bikky's fear, because he knew it could not be a good thing for Dee. He had heard about how being really upset could cause a miscarriage.

He climbed up onto the bed and lightly touched Dee's back. "Dee, don't cry, please," he pleaded. "Ryo's just being a jerk right now, but it'll be okay."

Dee froze for a moment when Bikky touched him and started to speak, then visibly tried to pull himself together, with no success.

"Ah dammit, Bikky," he sniffled between sobs that he could not stop. "I don't want you to see me…."

"I don't care, Dee. I understand. But you need to be calm. This can't be good for the baby, you know."

"I'm trying, kiddo," Dee cried, hugging the pillow tighter.

Bikky managed to hug onto Dee. "It'll be all right. You and Ryo will make up, Ryo will admit to acting like a jerk and…."

"He wants to call off the wedding," Dee gasped. "He said he wouldn't go to it. That means he doesn't want to get married anymore."

"I don't think he meant it that way, Dee," Bikky said, still hugging his dad. Bikky could see the thought of Ryo not wanting to marry Dee hurt his adopted father more than he could bear.

"I'm trying to tell myself that, Biks. But…" Dee sobbed again.

"It's going to be okay, Dee. You love each other too much.

"I'm not so sure. The truth came out in anger and it's obvious we're too different. I'm not good enough for his family. Not just because I'm a guy, but because I'm some poor asshole Ryo thought he fell in love with. His family hates me."

"Like Ryo cares what they think," Bikky snorted. "Besides, Aunt Elena and Uncle Rick don't hate you."

"I'm not so sure now. I was a bit of a jerk today myself."

"Dee," Bikky tried to console him. "I'll bet no more than usual. And they still like you."

"Bikky," Dee said, shaking his head.. He tried to curl away from Bikky. "Look, I know how it works. First we put off the wedding. Then next Ryo will be saying it's best he moves out for a while. Before I know it, he'll be gone, over. Except when I give him the baby on his weekends. Otherwise, it'll be just me and the chibi."

"No it won't," Bikky insisted. "Ryo would never do that. He loves you too much to leave you. And…" Bikky rested his head on Dee's side, "if Ryo actually could do something stupid like that, I'd stay with you, Dee."

"Get out of here," Dee said, sniffling.

"Really. I'd want to stay with you and my baby brother or sister, and help you. If that ever happened. But it won't, Dee. I just know that. Ryo may be acting like a jerk now, but he's not an asshole." He watched as Dee started to sob hysterically again. "Dee?"

"It hurts, Biks."

"What does, Dee? Should I call Vince?"

"Not that type of hurt. I mean… life without Ryo. It hurts to think of it. Of you having to choose between us. I want us to always be a family. I need you both in my life." Dee buried his face in the pillow.

Bikky knew it was not good and he would not be able to calm Dee down. Only one thing would.

"Dee, I gotta go for a moment. But, I love you Dee. You're the best dad anyone can have."

Dee put an arm around Bikky and hugged him.

"I gotta go for now, but try to calm down, Dee. Think about the chibi."

"I'm trying."

Bikky quickly kissed Dee's cheek, noting it was hot. Dee's arms were flushed now. He had to get Ryo and quick.

He gave Dee a quick squeeze and jumped off the bed to run to the kitchen.

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"Ryo!" Bikky called out, running into the kitchen.

Ryo was adding whipped cream to the top layer of the parfaits. The spoon froze in mid-action as he turned to the upset teen.

"What is it, Bikky?" Ryo asked.

"Dee," Bikky gasped. "He's not well, Ryo."

"I would imagine he's a little upset," Ryo said, trying to stay calm. Bikky had to be over reacting. He hoped that was all.

"He's crying," Bikky said, his large blue eyes blaming Ryo.

"He'll get weepy at times, Bikky," Ryo tried to reason. He set the spoon down and started to wipe his hands, just in case. If nothing else, Bikky's interruption was a sign it was time to go in the bedroom and sort things out with Dee.

"No!" Bikky yelled. "He's really crying, Ryo. Worse than settling. He thinks you're leaving him, Ryo and it's really messing him up. You need to help him."

Ryo started to frown. "Leave Dee? Never." Ryo looked worried, "How is he?"

"He's looking all red, even his neck and from what I saw of his chest. And he's really hot too, Ryo. Like he's got a really bad fever. Ryo, I'm scared. I heard that's not good."

Ryo did not want to frighten Bikky more than he was. "Bikky, put these away, please," he said, rushing from the kitchen. "I'll call you if I need something."

He hurried through the apartment. He had figured Dee was going to be upset, even cry a little. It came with being pregnant, Ryo learned. Dee was still yet learning that, which usually made it worse than it should be when he finally let it out.

He was already feeling guilty for Dee being upset, but if what Bikky said was true… Ryo shuddered, hoping it wasn't. He braced himself as he opened the door to the bedroom.

He was greeted by Dee's uncontrollable sobbing.

"Oh God!" Ryo rushed toward the man curled up in the center of the bed. "Oh God, baby… Dee." He sat on the bed, pulling Dee into a sitting position and into his arms. Bikky was right about the heat. Dee felt as if he was burning up.

Dee fell against Ryo, limp and still crying.

"I'm so sorry," Ryo apologized, kissing a hot forehead.

"I… I thought…." Dee gasped, then sobbed more. "That you were… g-going to… leave."

"No way, Dee," Ryo assured him. "Don't ever think that. You're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere."

Dee buried his face in Ryo's chest and continued to cry. Ryo sensed something different about the sobbing. Dee was now crying with relief, but was still very much upset.

And very overheated. Even his arms were flushed.

"Dee, I need you to go with me into the bathroom. I need to cool you down, baby. Okay?"

Dee nodded, but made no other move, still crying into Ryo's chest.

"Hey now," Ryo spoke gently. "I'm not going anywhere without you. Okay? But I need you to move with me. Dee, c'mon. We need to take care of this now."

It took a bit of effort, but Ryo managed to get Dee into the bathroom. "Shower first, then you soak," Ryo said, mentally walking himself through the instructions from the information packet.

Bikky poked his head in from the hall door in the back of the bathroom. "Is Dee okay?" he asked, sounding scared. "You need anything?"

"Get me some water from the fridge, please Bikky." Ryo replied, supporting Dee as he got him into the tub.

Bikky ran without replying.

Overheating, Ryo had read and heard from Vince, was common enough for a pregnant Carrier. In female pregnancies, faster metabolisms were normal. With Carriers, it would hit more. The male body was not only compensating for the fetus, but for the uterine sac and adjusting to new levels of hormones it never dealt with before.

If the Carrier normally had a faster metabolism, the flashes were more frequent and lasted longer. Ryo heard stories of Carriers going through winter without coats when it hit.

Dee had a faster metabolism normally. Which was why he was moaning now about suddenly having to watch his weight. His metabolism usually allowed him to eat whatever he wanted and burn it off. Ryo noticed in the last few days, Dee was already having flashes, either by noting a slight sweat when others around him were cool, or his face looking a little flushed. That was normal and fine, as long as it didn't last too long or Dee's skin started to feel overheated. No sweat was not a good sign either.

This was different than the slight flushes or needing to open his coat for a while. He was radiating heat from his body, the flush red and spreading on his body, down his front and back and to his legs. With no sweat. Ryo was more than worried. If he could not get Dee's body temperature down quick, it could be dangerous to Dee, the baby or both, even fatal.

Ryo spared no thought except on his task of getting Dee out of his clothes, and under the cool spray of the shower. He thanked Bikky who came in with a cold bottle of water, telling Ryo he put another in the freezer. After Bikky left, he stripped off his own clothes to climb into the shower, using touch, along with soft words of love to further calm Dee.

By the time Ryo was running the cool water for Dee to sit in for a while, the sobbing turned to hiccups. Ryo wrapped a towel around his waist and sat on the edge of the tube, urging Dee to drink all the water left in the bottle.

He ran his fingers through Dee's wet hair. "I love you," he found himself saying again.

"Join me?" Dee asked, almost shyly.

"Not this time, baby. It's not that I don't want to, but not until you're completely cooled down. You don't need my body heat right now."

This time when Dee looked up at Ryo, the look was far from shy.

"Later for body heat," Ryo chuckled, "along with other kinds of heat. I want you to cool down and relax. And let me explain myself. I didn't mean what it probably sounded to you. I love you, Dee. I want to marry you. Okay?" He leaned over to kiss Dee.

Dee nodded his head. "I'm sorry. I was having a bad day already and then…." He looked down. "I over reacted. But when you told me I was stupid…."

Ryo's eyes went wide. "Oh my God! Dee, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to sound so harsh. I guess I was testy over my grandfather's call. I meant to say that you and a boat might not be a good idea for now."

"Why not? I don't get any motion sickness."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Dee, love, sweetheart, these days you get up too fast and your stomach lurches and your head spins. And do I have to remind you about LA?"

"I was hoping to forget that," Dee grumbled.

"Yeah. Can't blame you. But before you'd just get a little nervous flying. The last time you were violently ill. I don't want the same thing to happen on your wedding day. I don't think you want to say, 'I do' to a toilet."

Dee leaned back with a groan. "I'm an idiot."

"We can still hold off, you know, if that's what you really want. So what if the chibi is there for our wedding?"

Dee took Ryo's hand. "Because I can barely stand waiting to hold the chibi. If I also have to wait longer to be your husband, I'd go insane. That's why I don't want to wait."

Ryo smiled tenderly, caressing Dee's check. "You're way too sweet at times," he said lovingly. "Look, let's take a break from this wedding stuff for a day or two. Then me and you sit down and talk. What we like, what we don't like, and why. Then go from there. Take me to some of those places you like, if you want."

Dee let out a heavy sigh. "It's not that I hate those places, Ryo. It's just too… rich… and I don't belong. And like you pointed out about a wedding on a boat, I don't want to feel uncomfortable on the most important day of my life."

"Aw Dee. I'm sorry I didn't consider that. You seem okay when we go out with Rick and Elena, and Diana. And then there was my cousin's wedding last year. I didn't think to ask you about that. And I'm terribly sorry."

Guilt flashed in Ryo's eyes as he noted Dee was close to his normal coloring, except for his face and ears. It was all his fault what happened to Dee. Thank goodness he was able to get a handle on the situation, or he would have been responsible for losing the baby and Dee.

"Ryo?" Dee asked concerned.

Ryo did not know he was crying until one of Dee's fingers wiped at the tears. "Don't baby. Please. It's okay now. We're okay. Don't blame yourself."

"I'd have never forgive myself," Ryo stated mournfully, hit with guilt again.

"Ryo? Dee?" they heard Bikky call into the bathroom. "Everything okay now?"

"Yeah, Biks. It's okay," Dee replied.

"I have the water that was in the freezer with me."

"Bring it in, please, Bikky," Ryo replied.

Bikky entered, his eyes immediately going to Dee, checking to assure Dee was okay. He held out the bottle to Dee. "Here, Dee."

"Thanks, Bikky." Dee smiled up at Bikky. "For everything."

"It's cool, Dee. Yell if you need anything. I'll be in my room." Bikky scampered out of the bathroom.

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Dee sat in the easy chair, a cup of chamomile tea on the end table next to his book. On his lap rested the journal as he wrote down what he ate that day, and recorded the headache he was currently hoping would go completely away soon. His face still felt warm and he was certain it was flushed. He decided to make mention of that too. Especially since the rest of him was comfortably cozy under the blanket he had on his lap. He was still sniffling too, but that had started to happen enough in the last few weeks, and Dee figured his sinuses would continue to keep him sniffling for at least most of the night.

Ryo walked into the living room from the den, and put on the radio, setting it to a soft rock station. He leaned down to kiss Dee's forehead. "Are you comfortable enough, love?" he asked, sparing a hand to tuck the blanket better around Dee.

Dee nodded, looking up. He noted Ryo still looked guilty and fear was still in his eyes. Ryo's eyes were studying Dee like a hawk.

Dee nodded, smiling up at Ryo. "I'm fine now." He took the hand still absently toying with the blanket in his. "Relax." He scooted over in the chair. "Here. I'll be even happier with you sitting next to me."

Ryo sat in the offered space, putting his arms around Dee and holding him close. "God, I am so sorry, Dee," Ryo apologized again, his voice trembling a little.

Dee kissed him lightly. "It's okay now," he assured Ryo. "Besides, it wasn't all your fault. If I had given you a chance to explain before pitching a fit and acting like a prima donna, we could have avoided the worst of it."

Ryo chuckled. "I don't think you had a choice holding it in any longer, especially with your hormones running errant these days. But I swear, Dee, I never wanted to make you cry like that, and I pray I never will again."

Dee's eyes stung with new tears, but were brought forth by the love and commitment in Ryo's voice as he spoke.

"Dee?" Ryo asked, uncertainly, kissing Dee's eyelids. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Nothing. These type of tears are okay," Dee sighed, his own voice telling how loved and protected he felt at that moment. He snuggled more into Ryo, and rested his head on his lover's shoulder. After letting out a sigh, he said, "I'm sorry. I'm just an emotional wreck tonight and now you're going to have to deal with all the weeping tonight." Dee lifted his head to gaze at Ryo. "And don't you dare start apologizing."

Ryo nuzzled the side of Dee's head, the dark hair tickling his lips. "Well, I am sorry. And I'll gladly deal with the weeping. I'll deal with anything that comes with having you."

"Good," Dee smiled. "Then you wouldn't mind if you keep holding me for a while longer"

"Baby, I'll hold you all through the night and then some," Ryo replied. He smiled gently as Dee rested his head on Ryo's shoulder again. He rubbed his face against the dark head, tightening his hold. "I love you, Dee. Never forget that, because I'm going to keep loving you forever."

"Good. 'Cause that's the same way I feel." Dee shifted so he could drape his legs across Ryo's.

"C'mere you," Ryo chuckled, moving them both so Dee ended up sitting in his lap. "Better?"

"Yes," Dee sighed, burrowing into Ryo's hold.

They were still in that position when they heard the front door open. Bikky entered and walked over to them. For once, he made no smart comment on how he found his dads. He smiled at the obvious sign that they had made up and Ryo was now taking care of Dee.

He held up the plastic bag he carried. "I got us some knishes from around the corner," he announced with a big grin.

Dee smiled at Bikky. "Way to go, Biks!"

Ryo smiled warmly at Bikky and winked. "Thank you, Bikky."

Bikky grinned at Ryo. Knishes was one of Dee's comfort foods and one he was able to indulge in.

They ate the knishes in the living room, Bikky sitting on the floor before the chair the two still sat in, Dee still settled in Ryo's lap. They talked for a while until Bikky excused himself to get ready for bed.

They remained sitting as they were, occasionally sharing kisses until Ryo noticed Dee had fallen asleep. Despite Dee still on his lap, Ryo felt too comfortable to move. So he hugged Dee tighter, listening to the rock station. Ryo found himself grinning and softly singing along, gazing at the man sleeping in his lap.

"I said I love you, and that's forever and this I promise from the heart…" Ryo continued to sing with Billie Joel's "Just the Way You Are". He held Dee tighter as he softly sang along. "I couldn't love you any better. I love you just the way you are."

Dee opened his eyes, smiling up at Ryo, until the song was finished. "I love you," he sighed happily.

"Love you too, Dee. More than anything." He leaned his head to kiss Dee lightly.

As they broke the kiss, Dee stretched marginally before starting to move from Ryo's lap. "Let's go to bed," he suggested. He held his hand down to Ryo.

Ryo grasped Dee's hand in his and got up to his feet. His arm automatically went around Dee and together they walked across the living room toward the bedroom.

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**January 29, 2006**

"We really appreciate it, and it was an awesome thought, Aunt Elena," Ryo spoke to his aunt on the phone in the office he shared with Dee. "But Dee and I have to pass on the nursery design. No, it's not that. He did a wonderful job on the sketches, but it's just not what we want for the baby's room. Elena, Dee doesn't want a professional that isn't a close friend, at the least, working on the baby's room, and once he explained why, I have to agree with him."

Ryo rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his seat. He looked across his deak to Dee.

Dee shook his head. "Tell her she's welcome to join us. We'll give her a screwdriver and show her what to do."

Ryo's eyes widened and a blush crept along his cheeks. "Well sheesh," he remarked. "Dee, she heard you and said she knows how to screw quite well."

Dee broke out in laughter. "Well, depends on the meaning," he said with a grin.

"She can do that quite well too," Ryo stated with a snicker. He winced as the volume over the receiver increased.

"Oh hey!" Dee yelped. "She says things like that to her nephew?"

Ryo chuckled again and said to his aunt, "No thank you. You're my aunt and I'm getting married." To Dee, he said, "Be thankful your mother is a nun."

Dee laughed. "She still can be pretty bad that way too, in her own way."

Ryo nodded. "Yup. And make us look like the perverts." He winked at Dee. Into the receiver he said, "Look Elena, Dee wants to pick out everything and anyone who is family or a good friend can help us when it's time to redo the room. We also have Barry, who is a licensed contractor. Yes, yes. Dee agreed to direct only, but I figure I'd let him set the lamps, maybe the mobile and stuff like that where he wants. And we'd value your opinion and advice. But please, that's all we really need. Well, that and your continued love and support, of course." He smiled as he listened to his aunt. "Aunt Elena? That goes for the wedding too. Not _that_ gay or not, Dee and I want more hands on with the decision making. In fact, we want the first choices to be ours."

Dee chuckled at Ryo's face and the slight blush. He got up and went over to Ryo's desk, holding out his hand.

Ryo shook his head. "Hold on, Elena. Dee wants to speak to you." As he handed his cell phone to Dee, he mouthed, "Good luck," and winked.

Dee took the phone from Ryo. "Aunt Elena, it's Dee," he greeted you. "And how are you this fine Sunday afternoon?"

"Hello Dee," Elena greeted brightly. Any worries of his mood the night before causing any insult to her was gone. "Other than having to work, how are you doing?"

"Fine," Dee replied. "Very good. Uh Elena, look, first I want to apologize for yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't in the best of moods."

"That's okay, sweetness. Rick still swears you're not as bad as me, and he's jealous of Ryo."

Dee chuckled. "If I wasn't trying to be totally sincere here, because you're making it hard."

Elena laughed. "Dee, after we dropped you two off, I'll admit I was in a bit of a huff, but Rick gave me a good talking to. In fact, it appears you were not the only one biting your lip and holding back. And Rick is right. I should have asked before doing anything major, like hiring a designer for the nursery. I'm sorry, Dee."

"I realized why it's so hard to just open my mouth and tell you when I don't like something. Because your hearts in the right place, Elena. And for that I'm eternally grateful."

"Don't be afraid to say no to me, Dee. Promise me that, sunshine."

"Sure." Dee was smiling.

"And I promise to give you room to say what is on your mind. Rick said he'd make sure of that, too, if I forgot. I'm so sorry, Dee. I got carried away. To be honest, after Ryo's parents were killed, I would worry about him. He did not attach himself to anyone or apply what it takes for a relationship to work. He dated here and there. I knew what it was whenever he had a girlfriend. He wanted someone around when he didn't want to be alone. Only he started to realize he still felt alone. So there were bigger gaps between girlfriends, and his time with them grew shorter until he stopped trying. I was worried he'd be alone his entire life. Then you showed up. I saw the change in him long before you two became the sweet couple you are now. So to hear he was ready to get married, and news of the baby right on top… well… I was so excited that Ryo finally found someone to settle down with. It was what I wanted the most for him. And getting to know you, I was doubly excited, because I knew you would return what he finally dared to reach out to have. By the time I found out you were more than just friends, I came to love you too, Dee. Because you were so good to Ryo. I also started to see you found in him something you almost started to believe you wouldn't. There was just something special about the two of you, and it made me very happy. But Dee, the one thing I never expected of you was to give my nephew a child. So hearing about the baby pushed me over the edge. I think I'm more ecstatic over it because of that. Instead of it being Ryo, I know what a beautiful gift you're giving my baby boy, and I love you more for it, Dee. And I want to give you what I feel you deserve – the world on a platter. And here I go again." Elena let out a loud sigh.

Dee laughed as he sat on the edge of Ryo's desk. "Elena, you're a darling and I'm glad you're Ryo's aunt." He winked down at Ryo, who was leaning back in his chair, obviously enjoying watching Dee speak to his aunt. "Elena, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course, sweetness."

"Did you ever have to, like pause from talking when you were pregnant?"

Ryo broke out in laughter at Dee's question, and green eyes that twinkled with mischief.

"Oh no," Elena replied with a laugh. "Breathlessness did not stop me from that. Ask Rick. I just got more comfortable to be able to keep going."

"Elena, I love you," Dee remarked happily with a laugh. "Look, Ryo and I are going to work out our own wedding. But we will need help. Can I put you down as one of our trusted assistants?"

"You sure could, darling one. And no more interference unless you ask. Baby included."

"Thank you."

"You will keep me updated on your progress?"

"Of course."

Dee paused as the phones on their desks rang and Ryo answering. He watched as his partner paled, writing down notes.

"Elena, we have to go. Duty calls."

"Dee, tell Elena I love her and will call on Friday," Ryo quickly said, covering the receiver with his hand as he spoke then went back to the call.

Dee relayed Ryo's message, and after saying his own goodbye, disconnected Ryo's cell phone. "What do we have?" he asked, looking down at the pad Ryo scribbled in.

Ryo looked up at Dee, pain in his eyes. "Another Carrier it looks like. And we're the only two around to take it."

Dee winced. He wanted to work on the case, but was not so certain he wanted to see anything first hand.

"Dee?"

Dee shook his head. Despite all the changes in his life, he was still a detective and had a job to do. "I'm okay." He stood up and went over to his desk to grab a few things.

"I'm going to call Chief," Ryo said. "Maybe they can pull someone in to meet us there. Other than we're supposed to be pulled from this case, it's almost time to call it a day. You shouldn't be working more than your eight hours."

Dee shrugged. "We'll see when we get there. But it's best Chief knows we're going out on this one."

Ryo nodded. "Go get a car checked out and I'll meet you at the garage."

"Deal." He grabbed his coat and left the office.

Ryo met Dee where he said he would, Dee already having gone through the check on the car. After they settled in the car, and Dee started it up, Ryo said, "Chief said we have to go on this, but he's livid about it. He's going to find someone to pull in to relieve us."

Dee simply nodded as he pulled the car out of the parking space and through the garage, deciding not to say anything about his not leaving the building and being out in the area except for coming and going.

As he navigated the car through the traffic, Dee found out no one forgot about him. "Dee, I'll go to the body," Ryo stated. "You can start gathering information. And make sure you have a uniform with you at all times. Do not even cross the street alone. Okay? I'll trust you'll be keeping yourself safe while doing your job. Right?"

"Yes, I'll be careful," Dee assured Ryo.

"Two now." Ryo frowned as he went over his notes while Dee drove. "Either we have a copy cat or we have more proof it's a hate crime."

Dee shrugged. "I have a feeling we're up against more than a killer.

Upon coming in that morning, they discovered while they had been fighting over wedding details, Drake and JJ were called in on a night off to go to the morgue because the autopsy finally was being done.

"What do you mean, Dee?"

"I mean the autopsy was pushed off again till a time when they had nothing important to do." Dee's voice had an edge to it as he continued. "Unfortunately they did not have to push it off. You saw JJ's side notes from last night. When the autopsy was finally done, it was the only body left. They waited until they took care of all the 'normal' people."

Ryo sighed heavily. "Hate crimes are the worst, because whatever prejudices are behind the crime always shows up somewhere in the justice system."

"Doesn't make it very 'just' then, huh?" Dee replied.

Ryo's cell phone rang as Dee pulled the squad car up along two patrol cars.

"Hello?" Ryo asked, not moving to get out of the car yet.

"Ryo, it's Marty. I'm going to be leaving the house in fifteen and head your way. I just got off the phone with Ted. He'd be a bit later, but he'll be meeting me."

"Great," Ryo stated, opening the door and starting to get out of the car. "Thanks, Marty. Sorry you had to be called in on a day off."

"No probs, dude. Crazy day in the city today, from what I hear. Chief said everyone else out at a scene is held up because of CSU. They're short-handed and backed p. Meaning it's going to suck to be me and Ted, 'cause we'll be backed up waiting for them too."

"Great," Ryo grumped, slamming the car door shut.

"Don't worry about it. You and Dee are to go back once I get there. Then hope you don't get called out to anything else requiring CSU."

"Or anything else that doesn't. It's after three, meaning when you get here, Dee and I will be going back to call it a night. Anyway, I'll see you soon, Marty. And once again, thanks."

"Later, Ryo."

Dee walked around the car to stand next to Ryo, looking around, his eyes scanning faces, activity and anything else that might be useful. Ryo had been doing the same as he spoke to Ted.

Together they went over to the uniform in charge of keeping the crowd back. They took out their badges.

"You're the detectives, huh?" the uniform asked. When they nodded, he added, "Sorry you got stuck with this one." He jerked his head to indicate two cops in the background.

Dee frowned, his hand unconsciously going to his stomach. "What do we have?" he asked, hard eyes on the uniform.

The other man snorted. "One carrier less in this world, judging from the slash in his front and the little mess nearby."

Dee paled visibly as Ryo glared harshly. "You're a rookie at the 27th, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been here?"

"A week."

"Well, you'll learn fast enough that comments like that have no place doing this job," Ryo snapped, eyes on the name tag. "Hernandez."

Dee was staring at him with a challenge. "We'll be expecting copies of your report by morning up in CI," he stated. He touched Ryo's arm. "Ryo, I see Ferguson over there. I'll nab him to assist me."

"Okay. Make sure you stick with him," Ryo replied. "I'll check in with you once I get a once over of the scene." He pushed his way past Hernandez. "And I'll be dealing with you later," Ryo informed the cop. He headed over where the two other uniforms hovered.

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The scene was gruesome. Despite best intentions to stay away, and attempts to keep Dee from seeing the worse of it, Dee still ended up viewing the body before the body bag was zipped up and it was carted away. He found a corner to throw up with Ferguson assuring that Dee had his privacy and made sure Dee stayed safe.

Hernandez wandered by at one point and hearing Dee in the darkness behind the uniformed cop, sneered. "Oh man. You'd think if he was a detective, he'd be used to stuff like this. I heard stories about detectives cracking jokes over dead bodies."

Ferguson nodded his head. "Dee's been known to toss out the worse of the jokes in his time, but that only says just how distressing something is to him. Most of the guys in CI usually don't resort to that. And if you heard stories about stuff like that, then you'll know that if such a thing comes out of any detective's mouth, it's to let off steam so they can do their job."

Hernandez indicated behind Ferguson. "This one doesn't seem like he can do his job very well."

Ferguson's eyes narrowed. "Dee's among the best of them, which is why he's in CI." His eyes turned sympathetic for the man he guarded. "This case is particularly rough on Dee. I'm amazed they sent him out. He's supposed to be staying away from gory crime scenes for a few months anyway. This should have been the last one to send him out to."

Hernandez glared at Ferguson in question. "Oh? Why's that?" he asked, still managing a sneer in his tone.

Dee stepped out from behind Ferguson, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. "Dude, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that," he stated.

"It's okay, Dee. "

Dee nodded, his eyes settling on Hernandez. "I guess the chibi did not appreciate having to see that."

"What's a chibi?" Hernandez asked.

Ferguson smirked. "What Dee calls that little one he's carrying."

Dee nodded, placing his hand on his tummy.

Ferguson grasped Dee by his arm. "Now we're going to go sit down in the car a bit, because I am not going to have my head chewed off by Ryo, your chief or the Commissioner for not taking care of you. If you will excuse us," he said to Hernandez and lead Dee to the squad car.

Dee allowed himself to be lead to the car, but not before turning his head to smirk at Hernandez.

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**January 30, 2006**

"Well, hey!" Drake's voice greeted Dee and Ryo as they entered the CI office.

"Must be nice to make your own hours," JJ remarked, looking up from his work.

Any further teasing was put to an abrupt halt by Ryo's glare. Dee hardly acknowledged them as he went into the office he shared with Ryo.

"Sorry," Drake said, holding up his hands. "We thought you'd both appreciate a little humor."

Ryo gave Drake a weak grin. "You could try. We had a rough weekend."

JJ nodded, placing his hand on the folder he was reading from. "One guess why. I thought you were working first shift yesterday?"

"We were. But that call," Ryo pointed to the folder, "came late in the shift. By the time Marty and Ted showed up, Chief had called back. So with a matching MO, both him and Rose made an appearance. This kill was a fresh one, so Dee and I were allowed to join the canvas and get whatever we could. Dee had already started it anyway. By the time CSU arrived, Rose managed to get the duty ME to agree to an autopsy last night. Thankfully Cantrell is a daddy himself."

Drake smirked. "That's the one who did the autopsy on Saturday, you may have noticed. He was pissed over our first vic. Someone attempted to push that back again, but he put a stop to it and did the autopsy himself."

Ryo nodded. "He did last night's too. We hope we don't need to use this, but the Commissioner managed to pull an order putting him on duty for any other Carriers."

"That's good news," JJ said. "I mean, that we have that back-up. Not that I want him to find himself busy."

"I know what you mean, JJ," Ryo assured him. "So we had a few hours to kill until the autopsy, which both Chief and the Commissioner gave me permission to be there with Ted and Marty. So Dee and I came back here to start on the reports. Dee stayed behind some, making a few calls. Rose drove Dee home and left a message on my cell after he dropped Dee off. That was after 10. It was after 1 am when Marty dropped me off at home." Ryo sighed. "At least Dee was exhausted enough to fall asleep before I got home. But something happened, because Bikky was sleeping in the bed with Dee. Bikky told me this morning that Dee was upset a little, but seemed better with someone around.

Drake gave Ryo an encouraging smile. "We'll get the son of a bitch, Ryo. Don't worry. And he won't touch Dee."

Ryo knew his fears were showing. He had no chance of hiding it anymore. Not after keeping a tight reign on them when around Dee. "Thanks."

"You guys eat breakfast yet?" JJ asked.

Ryo shook his head. "We both didn't feel like eating much. I know I should have pushed some yogurt or something on Dee, but he made it clear this morning he was not hungry. He had tea and I had coffee and that was breakfast for us."

"Well then, you're both going to eat, whether you want to or not. Dee needs it, even if he gets a little nauseous after. It's better than what could happen if he doesn't eat," JJ said. "And you… well, we have to make sure you're taken care of so Dee doesn't worry about you. So I'm running around the corner and getting breakfast for everyone."

"JJ," Ryo started to protest, then thought better of it. JJ was looking at him, daring him to say no. "Thanks. I'll be in the office with Dee. We'll be out in a bit so we can start putting our heads together."

JJ gave Ryo a thumbs up and left the office.

"If you guys need something, yell," Drake said as he watched Ryo go to his office.

"I will." Ryo walked into the office and closed the door behind him.

Ryo smiled at Dee as he approached this dark haired lover, who was already on the phone.

He sat down at his own desk and sighed inwardly. It was easier to hide his fears from Dee while awake. He had no control when he sleep. The nightmare he had the night before kept him, Dee and Bikky up for a couple of hours, before the family fell asleep in their large bed. That killer had to be caught soon, or Ryo would have to choose between sleeping in another bed from Dee, or staying awake. The last one actually seemed like the easier choice to Ryo, because he needed to feel Dee next to him. He could only imagine what his nightmares would be like sleeping in an empty bed without Dee.

"Before I forgot," he said to Dee, "JJ says we're eating breakfast like it or not. Seems he's appointed himself our keeper."

"He wouldn't force us to eat if you didn't say anything," Dee remarked, hanging up the phone. "But I guess we should eat something if we expect to keep going. Especially if we're not getting much sleep at nights while this bastard is loose."

Ryo gritted his teeth. That son of a bitch needed to be caught and soon.

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A/N: Okay okay… just a little over 2 weeks, but here we go. Once again, thanks so much for the reviews!!! I'm shocked and so pleased that so many people seem to enjoy this venture. HUGS TO ALL!!! Chapter 6 should be up within a few weeks.


	6. Caged

The UnexpectedDraft

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 6 - Caged

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

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**January 31, 2006**

The week had been a stressful one at work, and it carried over into their evenings. CI were working hard on the Carrier case, but it was not their only case. After Sunday, Dee did not get to go outside except for going to and coming from work. They were still met at the subway by either Drake and JJ, or Ted and Marty and were given rides home at the end of the day.

Despite getting sick after catching a glimpse of the victims, Dee still thrived on being actively involved with the case, even if it lasted a day. Finding himself once again stuck behind a desk and kept indoors was a downer for Dee. It did not stop him from plugging away on the case anyway he could. He still had his other case for Diana he still worked on, if for nothing else, but to keep himself busy so he would not dwell too much on his current situation.

Ryo also felt the loss of being officially pulled off the Carrier case once again, especially since he was the only one in CI who was at both crime scenes. He was given a new case on Monday, but still found time to do what he could with the Carrier case.

Ted and Marty did what they could in between their own caseload. It was Drake and JJ's main case, but everyone pitched in. The press conference after the first case put it in the public light, making it high profile. The press handled it objectively at the worse. Rose had a second press conference Monday afternoon. Missing persons was instructed to report any Carrier reported to CI.

Commissioner Rose had a talk with Hernandez and his immediate supervisor about comments heard on Sunday while at the scene. Ryo was instructed to stay clear of Hernandez whenever possible for a while, because he had more than a few harsh words to say to the rookie as he left the scene.

Whenever Dee was downstairs and Hernandez was around, Dee tried his best to put distance between them. Hernandez, in turn, would ignore Dee, acting as if he did not exist. Which helped Dee stay out of trouble. As long as all Hernandez did was ignore him, Dee decided he could deal with it. Hernandez would just be another of those at the precinct who refused to deal with him unless absolutely necessary. Which made Hernandez not very popular with most of the others at the 27th precinct. The only ones Hernandez had as friends were the few others who felt as he did about Carriers, especially Carriers who were cops. Meanwhile the news seemed to spread more among the 27th about Dee.

Ryo and Dee had left early on Monday to meet with Mark's parents at the school. Only the mother showed up, stating at the start of the meeting that her husband could not make it due to work commitments. Later during the meeting, much to her embarrassment, she admitted her husband refused to be in the same room as a Carrier. Mark had gotten all his prejudices from his father, they found out. His mother tried her best to steer the boy right, but his father had more influence over him than his mother. The father's prejudices that he passed onto his son did not stop with Carriers.

Ryo and Dee were surprised to find out Mark had it for Bikky from the start because of his skin color. As Mark's mother talked on, they heard he had some harsh things to say about Bikky's mother for daring to have anything to do with a black man. Bikky's situation with Mark got worse for being raised by and eventually adopted by two white men. The mother did not want to go deep into what her husband thought of Ryo and Dee, but the two men had very strong ideas from what they did hear.

Dee and Ryo made enough of a fuss that the principal was pulled into the conference. In the end, Mark was issued a warning that he would be suspended if he was overheard saying anything hateful, whether it was about Bikky or in general. The third time he would be expelled. He was also to be made an example to the rest of the students thinking about doing the same.

The principal assured Dee and Ryo that they would once again remind the students with sensitivity training and that her school did not condone any talk that killing was justified. Ryo pointed out such attitudes in children led to incidents where students came into school with guns, killing teachers and fellow students. Ryo impressed that no school should go through it, especially one where his son attended. The principal whole-heartedly agreed with Ryo, promising to work in correcting that flaw, including calling in assistance in the way of local police coming in to talk to the students.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

Jim stared at the assembled men in the main CI office. "I should get something back to give us an ID in a day or two," he assured them.

"And until then?" JJ asked, shaking his head. "Someone is waiting for a loved one to come home."

Jim rolled his eyes. "We go through this almost every time. As much as I like to have the image, I'm not a miracle worker – not without having something to work with. And I have nothing on this second victim."

"Second victims," Dee said softly. He had been unusually subdued throughout Jim's briefing.

Jim stared at Dee. "Excuse me, Dee."

Dee looked up from the file he had been studying while Jim spoke. "We're talking as if only there were only two people killed when there were four."

"Semantics, Dee," Jim said.

Dee lifted a folder. "We have four autopsies – that means we have four victims, so take your semantics and shove it, Jim."

Ryo moved to rub Dee's back soothingly.

Drake shook his head. "Unfortunately the little ones do not help much in finding identities."

Dee glared up at Jim. "Is that right, Jimbo?"

Jim shrugged. "The fetuses were cut up in hopes that we might have more to go on, but no dice this time, Dee. Sorry."

JJ picked up another file and opened it to look through the papers inside. It contained reports of pregnant Carriers who were missing in the tri-state area.

Jim shook his head. "As much as it pains me to say this, but our victim does not match any of the descriptions in there."

Ryo gritted his teeth. "Please let these guys just decided to leave home to escape a bad situation or something. I don't want any of them to show up as a new victim."

"I hate to add to the bad news here, but it's been two days now, and with the time of death determined at early Saturday morning, we're on four days now and nothing reported in," Jim added.

"Maybe we're not monitoring to a broad enough area?" JJ asked.

Dee shook his head. "Unless you want us to pull missing persons for the U.S. We're already pulling from the tri-state area."

"Maybe we should," Ryo said.

Dee shrugged. "You talk to Rose about getting more than what we have then."

"Aw dammit," Marty remarked. "Don't tell me there's more freakin' brick walls we're hitting?"

Dee shrugged again. "Let's face it, whatever laws to protect Carriers were lucky to get passed, and most probably with good cause." Dee once again was amazed at how something that he had little previous knowledge of had become so big an issue in his life.

Ryo sighed. "I guess talking to Rose won't do any good, huh?"

Dee shook his head. "If it was possible to get more, he'd get it. I'm certain he's still working on it."

"Yeah, huh?" Ryo smirked at Dee.

"What?" Dee asked, looking up at Ryo.

"Still trying to get used to this. Hm? Did I just hear Dee Laytner make a statement that put confidence in our Commissioner Rose?" Ryo asked.

"Fuck you, Ryo," Dee stated.

Ryo raised an eyebrow, with a suggestive grin meant only for Dee.

Marty's jaw dropped at Ryo's silent response. Ted stared in amazement. Drake and JJ chuckled and Jim broke out in laughter.

Not much could faze Jim. He was also the one who sensed more than what was on the surface with Ryo, and determined once Ryo accepted certain things, more would slip to the surface once in a while. That was one of those moments to Jim, and as always took delight when privileged to his theory once again proving true.

Drake and JJ had been over Dee and Ryo's place several times since New Year's. Being in the home of the engaged couple, they were treated to more than what they saw at work. They still found it amazing, but stopped looking shocked.

Only Ted and Marty were getting used to Ryo seeming to come out of his shell at times.

Dee was laughing too, shaking his head. "Maybe later," he remarked, glad for the chance to laugh.

Ryo finally joined in the laughter.

Ted stood up and stretched. "All right then. If there's nothing more, Marty and I have a drug ring we need to be breaking. If we come across anything, we'll let you know."

Marty also stood up. "Our next meeting is when?"

"Fifteen hundred," Drake replied. "Unless you're out on a case. In which case, you'll both be filled in if there's more to add to what we have."

Marty nodded and started for the door. "We'll be out and about town for a few hours. We should be back by lunch, I hope."

"Yeah. We'll call on the way back in to see if anyone wants lunch delivered," Ted said, following Marty. "Later."

"JJ and I have an interview with our first vic's MOP, so we best be on our way too," Drake stated.

"Good luck," Ryo called out as JJ and Drake waved, leaving the office.

"I need to go make up some more concoctions," Jim remarked, grinning wickedly.

"Go," Dee remarked. "And you're the last person we'll ask to bring us lunch."

Ryo chuckled as Jim left. He lightly touched Dee's arm. "We might as well go into our office. You look a little tired, Dee."

Dee sighed. "More like weary," he replied, allowing Ryo to pull him to his feet. "How much longer do you have to hang around?"

"A few more minutes, at least," Ryo replied, closing the door to their office behind them.

Dee walked over to gaze out a window. Ryo stood by the door, watching his fiancé. "If you prefer, I can put it off a bit. It's not like I made an appointment or anything. Just hoping to find an informant on a stoop that she spends most of her day sitting on."

Dee shook his head. "Nah. You have a job to do. Don't mind me."

"Dee?"

"I just get lonely in here. That's all. At least until this crap, I was allowed to leave the building to investigate. Now I'm sitting here watching everyone leave but me." He settled a hand on his abdomen, rubbing gently. "And while it's getting to be a little obvious, it still doesn't feel like I'm so pregnant that I can't be doing something useful on the outside."

Ryo crossed the distance to stand next to Dee. He placed one hand over Dee's, and his other on the small of Dee's back. "You're not useless, Dee. You just can't go out there. Yeah, I know you're thinking that it should be okay as long as you're with someone, but do you want to take that chance? Do you want to spend time out there more than necessary, exposing yourself to whoever is killing those poor men? I know I don't want that to happen to you." He leaned closer to kiss Dee's cheek.

"No," Dee said softly.

Dee slumped to lean against the window frame, his arms wrapped around his abdomen. "Ever since I found out about the baby, sometimes I get scared, Ryo. Can I really do this? Will I make a good father? Normal stuff, so Vince says."

Ryo nodded in agreement, moving closer to Dee, coming up behind him.

"But this… knowing people can do something like that… and I can't carry my gun to protect myself. I feel like this is out of my control. And.. that bastard scares the fuck outta me," Dee stated low, still gazing out the window.

Ryo put his arms around Dee, holding him tight. "It's okay, baby," he murmured.

"Ryo, I'm scared," Dee admitted. "I mean even when I'm out there with you or someone… I wonder if he's there nearby, watching, waiting… wanting to… Dammit! I'm terrified of him and what he could do."

"We'll keep you and the chibi safe, Dee. I have lots of help with that, and you know that. And we all can carry guns. In fact, I have two now." Ryo pulled Dee closer, softly kissing the side of Dee's head.

"It's just… God, I can't stop thinking about it. I pray that poor bastard wasn't still alive when he was cut open." Dee let out a loud sob, snuggling further against Ryo. "Holy God, Ryo… if someone tried to open me up other than a scheduled c-section, I'd go insane. I don't want to lose my baby." He started to cry, burying his face in Ryo's neck.

Ryo shifted them so he could sit on a file cabinet and got Dee to straddle him, holding Dee tightly. Dee wrapped his arms around Ryo and held on, still crying into his neck.

"No one's taking that baby from you, Dee," Ryo said, his tone hard. "Because no one is taking you or our baby away from me. God help any bastards that try."

Dee tried to pull himself together. "I'm sorry, Ryo," he sniffed. "I'm just so fuckin' confused. I want to be out there and find this son of a bitch, and I want to hide like I've never wanted to in my life."

"It's fine, Dee. That's understandable."

Dee pulled away slightly and kissed Ryo. "I'm holding you up from doing what you need to do. You should go now."

Ryo shook his head, gently wiping the tears from Dee's cheek with his fingertips. "Not until I know you're okay."

"I'm fine. I'm going to be scared until we catch this bastard. And then have normal things to be scared about until the baby is born." Dee smiled at Ryo. "Besides, I have you to make me feel safe."

"Dee…." Ryo pulled Dee to him again, kissing him passionately, until Dee pulled away.

"Go on, you," Dee said with a soft smile. "Before I decide to lock the door for more of that, and then some."

Ryo laughed. "In your dreams. Are you going to be all right?" Ryo asked, caressing Dee's cheek.

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I might take some time in between actually working to see if we have any better luck getting somewhere to have a wedding." He smiled at Ryo, leaning close again. He kissed Ryo's lips, his tongue lightly licking Ryo's lower lip. "Thank you, Ryo. I love you."

Ryo returned the kiss. "Love you too."

"Be careful out there," Dee said as Ryo pulled away.

"I will. I won't do that to you, Dee. If I'm going to take longer, I'll call and let you know. If not, I should be back by lunch too."

Dee nodded and watched Ryo go. With a sigh, he still sat by the window, looking out, still wishing he could go out there and do what he loved to do. He shook his head, finally standing up. As much as he loved to go out investigating crimes, he loved Ryo more. He loved Bikky, and would not intentionally do anything stupid and cause the boy to lose a dad again. And he loved the baby growing inside him.

He went to his desk and sitting down, went back to work.

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**February 3, 2006**

Tuesday and Wednesday nights were spent talking about their wedding and making their own selection of wedding sites which included most of Dee's, and even one from Elena's. A few others were added as they both browsed at options on the internet, using one of the wedding sites. They came upon the site for a place called Bridgewaters, and Dee instantly had his first choice for wedding and reception. The place was located near the South Street Seaport, and was named for the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the facilities. Remembering the night Ryo finally confessed his love to Dee, there was no place better to have their wedding as far as Dee was concerned. Ryo had to agree with the romantic in Dee – it was perfect. It was also upscale enough to spare him from hearing grumbling from his family.

On Wednesday night they started to make calls for available dates and continued on through Thursday at work. Dee made the majority of the calls, since he spent most his day in the office, while Ryo was out on a crime scene for a theft. They had started with Bridgewaters, and to their disappointment, they were told the venue was booked solid until early summer, but their name would be put down on a list in case something canceled before the end of March. Dee was willing to push it a little and pushed it to the end of April. He did not expect anything to open up. He did not have that type of luck. Yet Dee still managed to hope. He was getting married to Ryo, after all, his two years of waiting and hoping paying off more than he had dared to hope back then.

As they continued to call each place on their list, they encountered the same replies and put themselves on a waiting list, not expecting anything to come of it. Ryo could see Dee was getting more upset with each call that basically told him he would have to wait to be married.

Ryo walked into the den, finding Dee sitting before the computer, getting phone numbers for more places to call. Ryo noticed the folios from Elena was once again sitting on the desk. Dee let out a sigh as he sat back in the chair, idly doodling after writing down another phone number.

Ryo came up from behind Dee and hugged him around the neck, kissing his head. "All those places on the internet are not the end all of places to get married, baby," he said softly. "New York's a big city and somewhere out there is a place that has an opening before the end of March."

Dee leaned his head back, giving Ryo a soft smile. "You're probably right. Our problem is finding it."

Ryo snorted as he started to rub Dee's chest. "That should stop us? We're detectives, remember? If we can find criminals, we can find a place to get married."

Dee nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It's out there. I just hope it doesn't take as long as some of our more elusive cases. I'd hate to see us still making calls by March 24th."

Ryo rested his chin on Dee's shoulder. "I know it won't be what you're hoping for, but if it comes to that, I have a suggestion that I'm willing to go through."

"Yeah? What's that?" Dee asked.

"If we can't get anything, say, by the end of this month, then I'm going to take you to City Hall, where we're going to be married. Then we can start planning the wedding to come later. Because I can't wait that long either to be your husband." He turned his head to kiss Dee. "So?"

Dee smiled as he moved his head to get kissed better. "Not my first choice for a wedding ceremony, but it's better than no wedding until fall. We'll be legally married, and that's the important thing."

"I'd say it is," Ryo grinned.

"So yeah, if you're willing, so am I." Dee turned so he could kiss Ryo back. "I love you."

"Love you too, and I hate seeing you so sad." The hand on Dee's chest strayed down to the swell of Dee's abdomen.

"I have you," Dee replied. "So I'm not sad. Especially now." Dee smiled as he moved his head for another kiss.

The kiss was interrupted by Dee's cell phone ringing. He picked it up from his desk and looked at the number. His eyes widened. "Oh my God," he uttered, answering his phone. "Hello. Dee Laytner speaking."

"Mr. Laytner, this is Aileen from Bridgewaters. We spoke a few days ago. We had a cancellation this morning and you are the only one on our waiting list that falls into the time frame."

Dee's mouth dropped. "Umm… really? What date would that be?"

"March 11th. Would that be an acceptable date for you?"

"That would be perfect," Dee stated happily. "I'll have to talk to my fiancé first, but…."

"Dee, if it's an opening, take it," Ryo whispered into Dee's ear, hugging him.

"Okay, fiancé said to ask when do you need a deposit."

Aileen laughed. "I can pencil you in for hold on the date until Monday."

"What time are the offices open until?" Dee asked.

"Five o'clock."

Dee looked at Ryo. "Would you be able to see us this afternoon? Because after today, our next day off is Wednesday."

"If you can make it, yes we can. If not, you can call by Monday and give us a credit card number to confirm the date, then on Wednesday you can come in to work out the details."

"Want to go put a deposit on Bridgewaters for March 11th, baby?" Dee asked Ryo.

"Now?" Ryo asked.

"In a little while. Don't want to make them think we're that desperate. They might hike up the prices." Dee chuckled.

Aileen laughed. "Don't worry, Mr. Laytner. As of now, you're the only ones in bidding for that date. The prices will remain."

Dee laughed. "We'll be there after lunch."

"Fine. I will see you and your fiancé then. Good bye, Mr. Laytner."

"Good bye, and thank you." Dee disconnected his phone and jumped out of his chair, crushing Ryo to him in a hug. "We have Bridgewaters! Oh holy shit! Baby, we have Bridgewaters!"

Ryo managed to hug Dee back, laughing. He leaned up to kiss Dee. "Yes, we do."

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**February 6, 2006**

"This is getting old," Marty complained. "I hope you two didn't get sent out again?" he asked Dee.

"No. Drake and JJ were here when the call came in. They're out right now for the autopsy," Dee replied, leaning back in his chair and sipping a ginger ale.

"That bites," Ted grumped. "This asshole needs to be off the streets."

"Tell me about it," Ryo sighed from his spot, standing behind Dee. He placed his hands on Dee's shoulders and started to massage them. "Now for some good news. Dee and I have a place for the reception. Unfortunately when we went there to sign the contract, we found out that we can't do the ceremony there, but the reception place really is the bulk of it.."

Dee nodded. "We'll figure out something. Worse comes to worse, we'll let Elena put up a tent in Battery Park or something."

Ryo chuckled. "Don't scare me, Dee," Ryo joked.

"That's great, guys!" Ted said. "So when's the date?"

"March 11," Dee replied.

"That's less than a month," Marty remarked.

"More than five weeks," Ryo said. "We're on it. We called Elena. Diana and JJ knows. We have a wedding we're planning." He patted Dee's shoulders. "We still need invitations. And if most of the family gets the announcements and save the date cards at the same time as the ceremony, I'd be hearing it from my grandfather about proper etiquette," he remarked to Dee, thinking aloud.

"We'll send the announcements out 2 days before the invitations," Dee replied with a smirk. "And save the date is when a wedding is far in the future. So invitations alone will do quite well." When Ryo looked at him in question, Dee laughed. "You forget my mother comes from a wealthy family. I asked her about these things when you got abducted by kids when we over there."

Ryo smacked his forehead. "I forgot about that."

"And guess what, babe?" Dee said, grinning devilishly. "I got a call from Mother this morning while you were out. Turns out I wasn't counting in any 'cousins' of mine."

"You have cousins coming to the wedding?" Ryo asked. "Why didn't you say something until now."

"It slipped my mind. Probably because it's a scary thought that I have wealthy cousins coming to the wedding."

"Yeah," Ryo replied, slightly nervous. "Definitely."

Ted started to laugh. "Oh crap! I forgot, but your mother does come from a family of means."

"How many cousins are we talking?" Ryo asked in interest, sitting on the edge of Dee's desk.

"No more than 10. They always felt it was a shame that Mother devoted her life to God and never had children to carry on the family for her. Then suddenly I appeared at the orphanage one night in Jess' arms. I don't know them very well, but I've met them before." He looked amused. "And as rich as they are, they're nothing like your family."

"Don't start, Dee," Ryo warned, only half joking.

"Well, they're not. Imagine suggesting to your grandfather to go to McGillicuddy's for lunch." Dee laughed. "But they're the ones who didn't write Mother off as a lost cause, didn't turn their backs on me for being bisexual, and according to Mother, are excited as anything when they found out about the chibi."

"Well, we can't deny them entrance to the wedding then," Ryo smiled, realizing it was the first time he had heard anything about any family on Dee's side, except for Mother and Jess. From the way Dee spoke, it appeared they had adopted Dee into their family as Mother Maria's son. Ryo was glad about that. He was also happy knowing there would be cousins on Dee's side for the guest list, rich or not. He leaned over to kiss Dee's nose. "Now I need to head out for the Jensen case and see if I can find her husband or not."

"Better you than me, 'cause I'd kick his ass if I find him," Dee grumbled.

"I keep telling myself that I shouldn't give into what I'd love to do. Anyway, Ted and Marty will amuse you until they finally have some work to do. Love you."

"Love you too baby," Dee smiled, leaning up to grab another quick kiss from Ryo. "You know the drill."

"Yes, yes. I've been really good about it, haven't I? Have I made you worry unnecessarily?"

Dee shook his head. "No. And I'd like to keep it that way. I'll see you later."

Ryo went over to his desk to grab some items. On the way out, he grabbed his coat. "Take care, Dee. See ya later," he added to Marty and Ted.

Ted stood up. "You look a little tired, Dee. How about we go into our own space and let you close your eyes for 10 or 20? We'll wake you up."

Dee looked up at Ted hopefully. "Would you? Great. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah. It shows. Go on. I'm sure we won't even have to worry about Chief or Rose."

Dee smirked. "We don't. Rose said that I should close my eyes for 10 minutes if I need it. We might be getting a small couch in here."

"Really?"

Dee laughed. "That or a futon."

"Frame futon or Japanese?" Marty asked.

"Japanese. Thick mat on the floor. Then we can roll it up and stuff it somewhere when it's not being used."

Ted laughed. "I can't wait for, oh say, 3 months from now or more. Would love to see you try to get up from laying on the floor."

"Shut up, dude. I thought you were going to let me take a nap."

"We will. We'll be going over the files from the latest victim in the meantime," Marty assured Dee. "Later."

"Yeah. And thanks."

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

"Dee," Commissioner Rose called from the door going to the hallway.

Dee looked up from his paperwork, nibbling on the end of his pen. "Hm? Oh hi Commissioner. What can I do for you?"

"It's more like what I can do for you. You'll be getting a call from Ryo in a few minutes. He just checked in from 1PP and looking at the time, I told him to go home. I offered to drive you home tonight."

Dee smiled. "We've been doing this a lot, sir. Are you sure Ryo won't get jealous?"

Rose smirked. "He's your fiancé. You tell me."

Dee laughed. "I'm sure he's going to tell me he'll feel better if I accept the ride, so I accept the ride, sir."

"Great. Dee, I didn't ask Ryo, but I was wondering if I can treat you both to dinner. Close to where you live, since there are so many charming and chic places. I would just like to sit down with the two of you away from the job and find out how you are doing."

Dee gazed at the Commissioner. "In other words, when we have our little talks here, it's still too formal?"

"You're perceptive, Dee. That's always worked for you. Yes. I'd like us to have a little time and drop titles, if you and Ryo would like. You can tell me when I drive you home. I'll see you in about 20, Dee."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

Dee watched the Commissioner leave the office, closing the door at the same time the phone started to ring. He picked it up. "Hello Ryo," he stated, then laughed at Ryo's surprised response.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

Dee looked across the table at their companions. He was glad Ryo thought to invite Diana. Dee told the Commissioner since the two men were close friends with her outside of work, it might help to make dinner more relaxing, as Rose wished it to be.

It did accomplish that, even if Dee felt strange calling the man that part of his mind still associated as 'the enemy' by his given name to the Commissioner's face.

They settled for a small bistro on Ryo and Dee's recommendation. The couple had been there before with Elena and Rick. Diana and Rose had never been to it before, but upon completion of the first course, the two announced it would not be their last time.

For the first part of dinner, the four talked about things in general.. During the main course, conversation centered on Dee and Ryo.

"I hear you have a wedding date," Rose stated.

"Yes, we do," Ryo grinned. "We have a reception site booked, but we're still working on where to have the ceremony. We could only get Bridgewaters from eight to midnight."

Diana nodded. "To throw a ceremony in, while it's an option for them, would be too rushed. Especially for Dee. So they're still looking for options to have a ceremony. Besides, they would need to get another room for a ceremony," she explained to Rose. "They were only able to get two and need all that space for the reception."

"Bridgewaters, you say?" Rose asked, looking at Dee and Ryo.

Both men smiled and joined hands without looking or fumbling. "Yeah," Dee replied. "We were lucky to get it, only because of a cancellation. But it was our first choice, so we're overjoyed with having the reception there."

Diana laughed. 'After you were talked out of having the wedding on a yacht, Dee."

"A yacht?" Rose sounded surprised.

"Well," Dee said, looking rueful, "it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was different, while classy and upscale to appease Ryo's relatives, but comfortable enough for me," Dee stated. "Until Ryo pointed out that being on the water might not be the best of times for me." He sighed.

"I can imagine, even if it would make for a lovely wedding," Rose replied. "However Bridgewaters is an excellent choice. I attended a wedding for an acquaintance of mine there. It was very lovely. And if you have the Bridge room, the view of the Brooklyn Bridge is breathtaking."

"We do have it as one of our room," Ryo said, smiling wide.

Diana snorted and Rose looked confused.

Dee grinned widely. "We were at the Promenade in Brooklyn when Ryo first told me that he loved me. The day we consider our anniversary."

"And you managed to get the perfect place to celebrate your marriage," Diana exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, it does seem fitting," Rose agreed. "I just hope you can obtain a site for the ceremony."

Ryo laughed, patting Dee's hand. "We have a last resort plan, if we have to."

Dee chuckled. "Even if at first I was half joking."

"May I inquire what that might be?" Rose asked.

The other three exchanged a look and laughed.

"They're thinking of letting Ryo's Aunt Elena loose with putting up a tent in Battery Park," Diana replied.

"We already inquired about getting a permit and if we need to, it shouldn't be a problem," Ryo added.

"That sounds intriguing. Are you both open to an outdoor wedding?" Rose asked.

"Dee's been wanting one since we got engaged. But how outdoor will a tent be?" Ryo added. "Knowing my aunt, we'll have torches and heating lamps everywhere. And probably drive Dee into the cold outside."

"So your body temperature is already on the rise, huh?" Rose asked.

"Already?" Dee remarked. "I'm officially in the second trimester. And it's going to be hell when it starts getting warm, if this is any indication."

"Are you already in the second trimester, Dee?" Rose replied. "How time goes by."

"For you," Dee said. "I'm looking at five more months to go."

Ryo put his arm around Dee's shoulders. "We're both very anxious to have the little one born," he said with a warm smile.

Diana snorted. "For you, my dear Ryo, that's five months of putting up with Dee's moods."

Dee made a face at Diana, while Ryo chuckled. "I love him anyway," Ryo said and lightly kissed Dee. The kiss seemed to prevent Dee from making further comments of protest on the subject.

"What about an atrium?" Rose asked. "For the ceremony. I've been to a few and they can be quite enchanting."

Dee groaned. "And where will we find an atrium to squeeze 350 people?"

"In other words, where will we fit 225 MacLeans," Ryo laughed.

"There is one right here downtown," Rose stated. "Rooftop. It encompasses the entire width of the building."

"I doubt we could book it," Ryo sighed. "Especially at this time."

"The building is owned by a family friend. Why don't you let me give her a call and inquire if you can use it on March 11?" Rose asked.

Dee and Ryo shared a look that seemed to cover an entire conversation. "If she says yes, we'll have to look at it first," Ryo replied for them. "Other than that, well," he shrugged and looked embarrassed, "we're not worried about the cost."

"If it's the right place, I agreed with Ryo. It doesn't matter how much we spend," Dee said happily.

"You'll love it. It already looks like an inside garden, but with additional arrangements, it will be enchanting," Rose said.

"If you can get your friend to rent it out, then we'll be most willing to look at it," Dee remarked with a grin.

"Delightful," Rose said. "I'll give her a call tomorrow."

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

**February 7, 2006**

"Ryo," Rose called out as Ryo entered the precinct, removing his gloves. The Commissioner walked across the busy lobby.

"Hello Commissioner," Ryo greeted.

"It's cold out there today, yes?" Rose asked, noting Ryo shaking off the cold.

"Very," Ryo replied. "Dee should be glad he gets to stay inside. Even he was bundled up this morning coming in. The subway stations were cold."

"Only to open his coat once inside a train," Rose remarked.

"Hell, it was so crowded and hot in the train, even I opened my coat. Dee was sweating. I need to watch him. Going back out into the cold with a sweat can't be good," Ryo said with a frown.

"At least getting rides home should lessen the chance of him getting sick. He's still in the office, last I checked in with him a while ago. I was just on my way up there when I noticed you. Which is just as well. Better having the two of you."

"Good news, I hope."

"I think you will find this particular item so. In the meantime, from what Dee said, we both have lots of catching up with the Carrier case."

"Oh? Did they make some headway? That would be good news too."

"I agree. I doubt they are close to having a suspect, but Campbell was speaking to them when I called."

"Let's go then."

The two men turned, Ryo noticing Hernandez was leaning on the front desk, glaring at both him and Rose. Janet and her partner stood to the side, already noticing and ready to go into action, if needed.

Rose placed a hand flat on Ryo's back and pushed him in the direction of the elevator. "Just keep moving, Ryo," the Commissioner insisted, "and don't give him any cause to start more trouble."

"You're think being a minority himself," Ryo mused.

"You're sounding like Dee now," Rose chuckled. "It amazes me how he still has that outlook on life."

Ryo smiled. "And I hope he never stops. It's one of the few things remaining untouched despite Dee's hard life. Somehow there's still a little innocence in him."

Rose nodded. "It helps keep him from becoming one of those jaded cops. It's a shame that some are jaded so early in their careers. They'll burn out faster than they can get past probation. Just remember, Hernandez or any of the others make a move more than try to look scary, they'll be dealt with."

"Hopefully before it's too late," Ryo sighed, getting into the elevator with the Commissioner. He gave a slight, polite smile to the others who were in the elevator with them.

"Don't you go burning out on us, Ryo. Keep the faith," Rose remarked.

Ryo was getting weary from worry. Not only from whoever had killed the Carriers, but anyone around them who felt Dee was a freak. He had no idea when someone might decide to do something about it, endangering the baby, or Dee. He was sick of having nightmares of discovering Dee to be the Carrier killer's next victim. He wanted to be able to only concentrate on the happiness in his life, and planning a wedding, looking forward to becoming a father, and all the normal worries that came with it.

Ryo merely nodded.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

"Dee, are you okay?" Jim asked, looking at the man leaning against a filing cabinet in his office.

"What do you want me to do?" Dee asked, sounding distressed. "Ryo is going to freak, you know."

Drake sighed. "Dee, it's okay to say you're freaking too."

Dee ran a hand through his hair. "You're telling me the third victim lived three blocks from us." He buried his face in his hands. "I'm never going to see the outside again, you know." He sighed heavily, shaking his head.

JJ opened his mouth to say something, but paused as the door opened. The four men watched as Ryo entered with the Commissioner.

"Any word on the elusive husband?" Dee asked Ryo, walking the few steps to sit down behind his desk. He was glad for the momentary distraction. He was also hoping to avoid Ryo from finding out their latest discovery, even if for a few minutes.

"Not yet, but I have a feeling he's hiding out at his brother's, even if said brother says he didn't hear from him," Ryo replied, filling Dee in on his latest leads in the Jensen case, and to catch a man who put his wife in the hospital.

"Oh?" Dee asked, interested.

"He's been seen late at night on the block his brother lives," Ryo explained.

"Ah. Sounds likely then. I guess that means you'll be working later hours soon." Dee attempted to not sound disappointed.

Ryo nodded. "Just until I can get him. It shouldn't be more than a few days at the most." He looked around at those who were in the office already. "Why do I get a bad feeling here?"

Dee dropped his elbows on the desk and rested his chin in his hands.

"What happened?" Rose asked. "What's going on with the Carrier case?"

"We have an ID and address on Cassidy," Jim announced about their third victim.

"And?" Ryo asked.

"He lived on Broome Street," Dee remarked gloomily.

"Oh." Ryo studied Dee. "We're still working on where the vics were actually abducted, aren't we?"

"Yeah," JJ replied. "Our second vic has an ID too. Mike Parsons. He was in New York on a business trip from Miami, so we found out."

Dee nodded. "His company called in Missing Persons since he didn't show up at work so far this week. They said he never answered his home phone or cell. Someone from the firm went to his house and no answer. So they called Missing Persons and as soon as Carrier was mentioned it was routed to us. I made a call to the airline with flight information I obtained from his supervisor. He never checked in for his return flight. Drake and JJ are preparing to go the hotel he was staying, since he never checked out from there either." Dee picked up a photo from his desk. "This is our victim. They emailed a few photos of him from the Holiday party."

Ryo walked over to take the photo from Dee's hands. "Yeah, that's him," he confirmed. "Any family?"

"His mother is flying up to identify the body," Drake remarked quietly. "There was mention of a boyfriend, but seems they were on the outs or something over Mike taking this trip. I believe he's coming up too."

Ryo leaned heavily against the desk. "Goddammit."

"Ryo, I hate to ask," Rose started.

"Of course, I'll speak to them when they get here," Ryo said.

"Dee, I think this time, you should be with Ryo. Assure them that we are doing everything we can to bring his murderer to justice," Rose added.

Dee nodded. "No problem."

"Good."

Ryo looked behind him at Dee. "And we're going to talk later."

Dee sighed wearily. "I know. I know."

"Drake and I are working on finding a common point where our killer might have noticed each man," JJ said.

Everyone nodded. "Good," Rose said. "You're all doing a fine job with this, gentlemen. Of course, we all have more personal reasons at stake here." His eyes fell on Dee.

Dee's computer chimed indicating incoming email. He looked at his computer. "More on Cassidy," Dee announced. "And… holy shit. His MOP is Vince." Dee looked up at Ryo.

Rose sighed. "It's damn hard keeping you two out of this case. I'm giving you two the task of interviewing Cassidy's MOP. Any ETA on when Parsons' kin are arriving?"

Drake nodded. "They should be here late afternoon."

"Then after Ryo and Dee speak to them, I want you and JJ to take them to the morgue for positive identification." He looked to Jim. "Is the body set for release?"

"By tomorrow, early afternoon the latest," Jim said. "I can't see any reason to keep them any longer."

Rose nodded, then looked back to Drake and JJ. "If you encounter any problem with it, you contact me immediately. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Drake replied.

"I hope we don't," JJ groaned.

"Again, good work gentlemen. Now if you don't mind, may I have a word with Dee and Ryo in private?" Rose asked, his eyes settling on the morose man sitting at his desk, nibbling on a dark chocolate bar that seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Oh sure, sir," JJ said, standing up. He picked up the files Jim had come in with. "Why don't we take this in our office," he said to the others.

"Yeah," Drake agreed. He picked up the files from Dee's desk. "I'll have these duplicated for you two," he stated to Dee and Ryo.

"Thanks, Drake," Ryo replied, going to stand next to Dee behind the desk.

"One more thing, gentlemen," Rose called out. "Unless you have scheduled appointments to make, I want you all to concentrate on this case for the rest of the day. Inform Marty and Ted this includes them. When we have the next press conference, I do not want us to look like we're dragging our asses like everyone else seem to be."

"Yes sir," Drake and JJ agreed. "Later."

They watched as Jim followed Drake and JJ into the next office and closed the door.

Ryo opened a desk drawer, and looked in. "Where did this come from?" he asked Dee.

"The Good Carrier fairy left them for me?" Dee replied hopefully.

Ryo shook his head, but for the first time since they started talking about the case, grinned, looking amused. "Don't eat it all at one time."

Dee grinned innocently up at Ryo.

Ryo and Rose both laughed at the look.

"Now, after that rather morose conversation we just had, I have some good news for you. Darlene has agreed to rent out the rooftop atrium to you, should you decide to take it. Tomorrow, if you like you can go and take a look." He took out a business card from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. "This is the address and Darlene's numbers, including her cell. You can call her anytime today and tomorrow."

Ryo leaned down to hug Dee. "I have a good feeling about this," he said to Dee.

Dee was smiling. "So do I. We'll check it out. Assuming we don't end up working tomorrow."

"You're both guaranteed tomorrow off. Everyone is getting at least one day off for now. Ryo, you might end up having to come in on Thursday, but Dee, you will take that day off too."

"But Commissioner," Dee started to protest.

"Dee, your work schedule is the approved schedule for pregnant officers. It's bad enough I looked the other way and allowed you to put in a 14 hour day on Sunday. And unfortunately, there may be more days like that out of necessity. So I'm enforcing you to take your scheduled days off," Rose explained. "Besides, I might have to use you in other areas concerning the case. Prejudice of Carriers seem to be common on the political level. However, on the other side, I have the HRC stating to come down on us, and apparently there are more pro-Carriers among the general population. Meaning we might start hearing more cries about how we're not interested in finding the killer if we don't soon. I might need your help in assuring the public our intentions are honorable."

"Oh," Dee uttered. "I understand, sir."

"Would you be willing?"

"Yes. Of course. I'm not ashamed of being pregnant."

"That will be all for now. All of you keep me updated on any new developments. Chief will be in tomorrow and I'll update him."

"Thank you, sir," Ryo said. "For getting an okay on the atrium."

"I'm certain you'll both love it," Rose stated. "I'll talk to you soon." He started to leave the office.

"Later, sir," Dee called out.

When Rose left, Dee leaned back in his seat and looked up at Ryo, rubbing his stomach. "Well, that was interesting."

Ryo snickered. "You're telling me. But what the hell. It's a place to have a ceremony."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I'll give her a call sometime this afternoon and set something up for tomorrow. Assuming I can leave the apartment to go look at it, that is."

"As long as I can have your gun along with mine," Ryo stated.

"Deal."

"Good." Ryo leaned down to seal the deal with a kiss.

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

A/N:

Tri-state area New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Thanks again for the reviews! HUGS

I know I'm running behind. I was hoping to have a baby born by this summer, but writing this is taking longer than I expected. Oh well. Let's be thankful in the story, Dee is only going through a normal 9 months and not a year and half so far, which is how long it's been since I started to write the first chapter of "The Unexpected I". I'm also glad I know exactly how things are going to go (barring surprises from the muses, of course).

Gotta run now. Hopefully 7 will be updated sooner than it took 6. And also hopefully, this was worth the waiting.


	7. Wedding Bell Bliss

The UnexpectedDraft

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 7 - Wedding Bell Bliss

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

February 8, 2006

"Oh, this is just beautiful!" Elena gushed, standing with Ryo and Dee along a glass wall, as they looked across the atrium. Along most of the perimeter were bush and flower arrangements, occasionally broken up by a tree here and there. On one side of the atrium were garden arrangements with pathways going through them. On the side near where they stood, was mostly open space, broken up by a potted tree or a low wall of exotic plants. They stood in a space between the wall and a small fountain.

"Well, I love it," Dee announced, smiling.

"Oh yes and it's not far from Bridgewaters," Ryo agreed. "It's perfect, if you ask me." He hugged Dee happily, kissing the dark haired man's cheek. He rested a hand on Dee's abs and rubbed gently. "What does the chibi say?"

Elena looked at Dee. "Now that's a good question, and one I was planning to bring up once we got to the topic of flowers for the wedding. How do you feel, Dee?"

Dee looked confused. "I'm fine."

"No twinges of nausea? No dizziness?" Elena asked.

"None. Like I said, I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling great, actually," Dee replied.

"That's good then. I was worried about you and a mixture of different flowers," Elena stated. "Anyway, we're still going to go visit a few florists when we're done here and test some of the flowers you two are wanting for the wedding. We don't need Dee passing out because of the flowers during the ceremony, do we?"

Ryo hugged Dee tighter, a concerned look on his face. "Gee, I didn't think about that. I figured we keep you off water for several hours at a time, and you'll be fine."

Dee lightly kissed Ryo. "Aw baby, it's not up to you to think of everything you know. I'm feeling fine here, but I think it's a good idea to do what Elena suggests."

"Yeah," Ryo agreed.

"And that's why you have wise aunts, Ryo sweetie," Elena said amused. "To think about things you boys probably would never think about. Dee's right. Relax. It's all under control now."

Ryo sighed, then smiled as Dee kissed him again.

"So we like?" Dee asked him.

"We love," Ryo replied. "This is it then, huh?"

Dee nodded. "Yes. Wedding ceremony right here." He could not stop the huge smile. "This is really it. I love you."

"Love you too, Dee. We're going to have a beautiful wedding," Ryo said.

"Hey lovebirds, here comes Darlene," Elena interrupted them, smiling warmly at the two men.

The three watched as Darlene came over to them, holding a few tubes to protect rolled paper. "I'm hoping from your happy faces, that this is a go," she said to Ryo and Dee as she stopped before them.

Dee nodded vigorously. "Oh yes indeed."

Ryo laughed at Dee's enthusiasm. "I have to agree with Dee."

"It's perfect," Elena remarked, grabbing Dee by his arm and hugging it. "Oh sweetness, this is what I hoped for the two of you for a ceremony venue." While still latched onto Dee's arm, she smiled up at both younger men. "Thank you so much for inviting me to come along today."

Ryo winked at Dee. "We thought you'd get a thrill coming along." He looked at Darlene. "We're all for signing papers," he told her.

"Delightful!" Darlene exclaimed. "We can go to my office for the formalities. Meanwhile I pulled these out, since I don't keep them in my office." She handed Ryo the tubes. "It's the layout and diagrams to help with your planning."

"Thank you," Ryo replied.

"I really don't see us enhancing what you already have too much," Elena said.

"Would we be able to string lights on the trees?" Dee asked.

Ryo looked at Dee in surprise, then shook his head amused.

"I don't see that being a problem, along with lighted canopies from the ceiling. We can pretty much accommodate anything you would want for the ceremony," she replied to Dee.

"I think the ceremony at sunset would be nice," Ryo mused, looking out beyond the glass walls at the city.

Dee looked at Ryo and broke out in a wider smile. "Oh my God. That would be awesome from here, wouldn't it?"

"And there won't be a very long wait time between the end of the ceremony and the reception," Elena added.

Dee and Ryo nodded in agreement.

"I would suggest then minimal lights at the start of the ceremony, and brighten them as it gets darker outside," Darlene remarked.

Dee's eyes opened wide. He looked at Elena. "Would it be possible to use decorative lighting only by the time it gets dark. I mean without them having to turn on the lighting here?"

Ryo rested his chin on Dee's shoulder. "It sounds magical. What if we enhance it a little by using paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling?"

"Oh, I love that idea, Ryo!" Dee exclaimed.

"It'll cost you," Elena stated.

"Get us a vendor who could do it," Ryo replied. "If that's what Dee wants, then we'll do it. I love the idea. Like I said, it sounds magical." He smiled up at Dee. "And isn't that what fairy tale weddings are all about?"

The love in Dee's eyes came out in his smile. "Ryo, love, just marrying you in a plain room is a fairy tale for me, because I'll be marrying my Prince."

Elena laughed as Ryo blushed. Despite the coloring on his cheeks, his gaze was steady as his eyes met Dee's. "That's exactly my feelings about you too."

Darlene and Elena shared an amused look. "They're so darling together, aren't they?" Elena asked.

"Yes. A very fine couple. I'll assure they can do whatever they want here for their dream wedding," Darlene agreed. She noticed she had the attention of the two handsome men. "I will make sure you have a listing of my staff who will be best to work with your vendors. And security will have instructions to allow you and anyone from your vendors access, should it be during outside public hours."

"Then I think we should go sign some papers, shall we?" Dee asked, dark green eyes glittery.

"By all means. This way, please," Darlene said.

Smiling warmly, Ryo put his arm around Dee's waist. They walked behind Darlene and Elena, who idly chatted on about weddings and good looking men.

"By the way," Darlene asked as they entered the glass enclosed elevator, giving a view of the city, "when is the little one due?"

Dee placed his hand on his stomach. "July 25 is penciled in for the c-section," he said softly.

"They are going to have the most beautiful child," Elena stated, smiling. "I mean, just look at those two."

Darlene giggled. "Oh, I agree."

"Her opinion," Ryo started, pointing to his aunt, "is somewhat biased, being I am her nephew."

"Well mine isn't and I agree with her," Darlene replied, amused.

"Yeah, I agree too," Dee added, then laughed with the others.

"Sunset," Dee stated later that evening. He was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine.

"Huh?" Bikky asked, looking up from the game he was playing.

"The more I think about it, the more I'm definite I want the ceremony to take place at sunset," Dee explained to the teen.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Ryo replied from his place in the chair, looking up from the book he was reading.

"Yes. We'll call Darlene tomorrow and tell her it's a definite on the time," Dee said.

"Whatever," Bikky remarked, rolling his eyes.

Ryo leaned over to ruffle Bikky's hair. "Deal bud. You know if you have any ideas about the wedding, we'll listen."

Bikky shook his head. "Oh no. I'll leave all that wedding crap for you too. You can do whatever you guys want." He looked over to Dee amused.

Ryo could not help snorting as he followed Bikky's gaze.

"What?" Dee asked, looking up from the magazine he went back to reading.

"In Style Wedding?" Bikky asked, snickering.

"So?" Dee asked.

"It's okay, Dee," Bikky replied. "I do have some ideas for the baby though."

"And you're most welcome to tell us," Ryo said.

"Okay. Not now, but when it's the right time, I'll tell you."

"That's fine, Biks." Ryo smiled as the teen went back to playing his game.

A few minutes of comfortable silence followed, except for the sounds from Bikky's game.

"Did your grandmother ever get in touch with you?" Dee asked Ryo, looking up as he turned a page.

"No."

"Thank goodness," Dee sighed.

"Don't be so happy," Ryo replied. He smirked. "Or I just might have to call her to make sure all's well."

"Uh, no. That's okay. Knowing your family, we would have heard if there was any reason for concern," Dee said.

Ryo chuckled. "Yeah. And I'd probably be blamed for it too." He watched as Dee laughed, going back to his reading. He put his book aside on the end table. "Speaking of grandmothers, I'm going to have to call Obasan soon. I mean very soon."

Dee looked up again from the magazine. "You should have been breaking her in easily, you know. Like at least a few weeks ago, you should have called and said, 'Obasan, I have a male lover.' Then a week later, you call and say, 'Guess what? We're getting married'."

Ryo chuckled. "I know, I know. My call now should be telling her we're having a baby." He shook his head. "I'm just afraid. I mean, I don't speak to her much, but I'd rather lose most of the MacLeans before having Obasan turn her back on me." Ryo frowned a little. "She's very traditional, so I have no idea what she will think about my being gay or you having a baby."

Dee shook his head. "Didn't you learn with Rick?"

"Huh?"

"Ryo, remember you got your Carrier gene from your mother's side. The Japanese side. Besides, the percentage of Carriers is higher in Japan than here," Dee pointed out. "That's because they continued with the experiment during the U.S. occupation after Hiroshima."

Ryo's eyes opened. "Oh crap, Dee. To be honest, that's all I know about Carrier's in my family. Whatever Elena and Rick suddenly decided to tell me."

"Yeah. But a good sign she won't do a total freakout," Dee remarked.

Ryo smacked his forehead. "Why am I so dense at times?"

Dee chuckled, exchanging an amused look with Bikky. The teen rolled his eyes. "It's okay," Dee assured Ryo. "I still love you anyway."

Bikky laughed as Ryo stuck his tongue out at him.

"I still find it amusing you two can gang up on me," Ryo said.

"Baby, there were some things about you that Biks and I were always in agreement on," Dee laughed, while Bikky nodded his head.

"Yup!" Bikky agreed, laughing.

"Well fine. Then I'll leave you two alone while I give Obasan a start to her morning."

"In the meantime, I'll bore the rugrat with pictures of things we can do for the wedding," Dee said.

"Holy God!" Ryo exclaimed loudly as he started to walk out of the living room. "Dee's turning into a bridezilla!"

Dee looked horrified as Bikky laughed harder.

"Oh my God," Ryo groaned, dropping on the couch next to Dee.

"From what we heard in here, it didn't sound like it went too bad," Dee said.

"Depends."

"On?"

"She wants to fly in with some family for the wedding," Ryo announced.

"That's great, baby!" Dee exclaimed.

Ryo leaned against Dee. "I'm thinking of seating them on your side for the ceremony. Who knows what I'll do for the reception."

"Huh? Why?"

Ryo lightly smacked Dee's head. "Now you're being dense," he chided playfully. "Think about it – MacLeans and Aokis all in the same room. My dad's family hates my mother's. And being proud as they are, my mother's family finds that an insult. Please God, don't let any incidents happen for the wedding," he sighed.

Dee hugged Ryo to him and resting his head against Ryo's, he chuckled. "Now it's starting to sound like a wedding."

"Shut up," Ryo sighed, then chuckled. "I can always call grandma number two and make that date for tea for us," he added slyly.

"Have you no sympathy for me?" Dee asked, burrowing his face in Ryo's neck. "The man you love?" He started to nuzzle along the neck. "That you're gonna marry?" He nipped at Ryo's earlobe. "The one having your baby?" He began to lick the shell of the ear.

Ryo let out a soft moan. "Hmm… how can I forget."

Dee's hands were straying as he captured Ryo's mouth for a long, passionate kiss. When he pulled away, tweaking hardening nubs under Ryo's tee-shirt, he said, "Then again, I might need some reminding of how I got his way."

Ryo glanced at Dee with passion heavy lidded yes, licking his lips. "I think you might."

"Good thing Bikky left to go to the movies with Carol while you were talking to your grandmother."

"Why are we still just sitting here?" Ryo asked, standing up. He took Dee's hand. "C'mon you, and let's see about refreshing your memory."

Dee had a satisfied smile as he allowed himself to be led to the bedroom.

**February 10, 2006**

"Morning," Ryo greeted, walking into the CI office from his.

"More like afternoon," Drake replied, amused. "What's with the swing shift today?"

"Because I worked 2nd shift last night and now I'm preparing to make a collar on the Jensen case."

"That's good news. I take it you saw him then?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. Except brother dear lives in one of the projects. I'm waiting for what the Housing detectives come up with and contact me. We should be good for a bust tonight."

"Where's Dee?" Drake asked.

"Downstairs. Janet got her claws in him, asking about the baby and things." Ryo chuckled.

Drake and JJ laughed with Ryo. "Good thing she realizes he's taken," Drake said.

"Too bad that can't be said for Janet. I guess Teddy-boy struck out again," JJ said with a laugh.

"Be nice," Drake warned him.

"Why? I already heard it," Ted's annoyed voice came from the door.

"Oh, hi Ted," JJ replied. "Uh, Drake, weren't we supposed to fill Ryo and Dee in on events since they left on Tuesday?"

Ted looked around the office, nodding his acknowledgement to Ryo. "Oh, but I don't see Dee. You shouldn't have to repeat yourself. So we'll talk about something else until Dee gets here."

"Hey Drake," Ryo said. "want to go into my office and go over… something?"

"Well," Drake considered, his eyes on JJ.

"Drakey! You wouldn't leave me alone at a time like this!" JJ wailed.

"You won't be alone," Ryo pointed out. "You'll be with Ted."

"Exactly. And I don't want to be." The smaller man moved quickly to stand behind Drake.

"Have fun," Ryo said amused, heading for his office. He looked back at Drake. "Coming?"

Drake shook his head. "Nah. But if you could take Ted?"

"Oh no! Not getting involved," Ryo exclaimed. "Later." He went into the office, chuckling.

Ted shook his head. "You can't keep hiding behind Drake forever," he said.

"Like to make a bet?" JJ remarked.

"Don't make it worse, JJ. Quiet," Drake demanded, moving JJ to his desk.

"Sure, Drake," JJ replied.

Ted sat down at his desk, glaring at the two partners.

"I'm honored, Dee," Janet said. "I'm touched that you and Ryo would consider me to be in your wedding party."

Dee smiled. "Why shouldn't we? I'm glad you said yes. Just one thing I should warn you. We're putting Diana in charge of Groomswomen things."

"That's okay, Dee," Janet giggled. "I can't see you or Ryo fussing with all those girlie things anyway."

"Yeah, so we've been told we're not that gay," Dee chuckled. "And for this, I'm inclined to agree. And I see your partner waving at us. We still don't know what you'll be wearing, but pretty soon you'll be going for a dress fitting. Oh, and don't worry about the cost. We're paying for everything concerning the wedding."

"You don't have to, Dee," Janet protested.

Dee smirked. "Believe me, you'll be glad before it's all done. We're not worried about the money. Ryo's family is footing the entire bill."

"Oh, I keep forgetting," she laughed. "Okay Dee. I better get going. Talk to you soon."

"Be careful out there, Janet."

"I will. I have your wedding to be at." She winked at Dee before walking over to her partner.

Dee turned to start toward the stairs, only to be hit with a wave of dizziness. He cursed himself for still not learning to start slowly. Instead of pacing himself so it got better, in the last day, it had been getting worse. He determined he really had to put more effort in watching what he did when going into motion after being still for a while. The dizziness passed and he continued his way to the stairs.

Wanting the exercise, he decided he'd use the stairs. He found himself having to stop for a few seconds, before going on. Slowly he told himself, hoping he was not getting to the point of being hit with breathlessness already. Bad enough his hip bones were a little achy that morning, and he feared it was not an isolated incident for a while. The uterine sac was growing, and needed room. More than for a woman, he was warned that it would be somewhat painful at times, because men's hip bones were smaller than women's. Even for carriers, because their bone structures were not any different than non-carrier males. Hormones released from the Carrier gland would help allieviate his hips needing to broaden as the uterine sac continued to grow, but not too much. After all, the baby did not have to pass through his hips to come out.

Sometimes being pregnant was an annoyance, Dee reflected, rubbing his hips as he started to slowly make his way up the stairs again. His fingertips brushed along the gentle swell and he smiled as he made his way up toward the second floor. Only sometimes; most times it was more an amazing experience than an annoyance.

He had paused again halfway up from the second landing for a minute, deciding that perhaps that day he was pushing it to walk all the way up to the fourth floor. When he got to the landing on the third floor, he would take the elevator up one floor. He pushed himself from leaning against the wall, gritting his teeth when the dizziness hit him again. He waited it out the few seconds, then started to take the first step.

From behind him he heard a voice.

"Just as I thought," Hernandez said, his voice oozing with disgust. "You're weak and soft. I've been hearing so much about the '_great_' Dee Laytner, but all I see is a disgrace to our fine force. Makes me ashamed to be a cop in a precinct that condones freaks like you. Definitely not New York's finest."

Dee forced himself to ignore Hernandez and continue to make his way to the landing. His mind was definitely made up to leave the stairwell on the third floor. There was something about being alone with Hernandez that gave Dee the creeps. His protective instincts for the baby warned him that Hernandez can be a danger.

"Hey, can't even talk, can you? So much for what I've heard about that sharp tongue of yours," Hernandez remarked, his voice coming closer to Dee. "Seems your partner has more venom to his tongue, despite supposedly being the quiet one. You know why? Because he's a real man."

Dee gritted his teeth, one hand clenching the handrail. He could no longer ignore Hernandez, even knowing he only had his mouth for defense. Attempting to fight on the stairs would only throw off his balance. He might beat Hernandez if needed, but he knew he had a good chance of going down the stairs too. "Of course, Ryo's a real man," he said, still looking forward. "Whoever thought he wasn't was misinformed."

"That may be true," Hernandez said. Before Dee could notice out of the corner of his eye, he knew the other man was next to him on the same steps. "But it seems I was grossly misinformed about you."

Dee dared to look sideways to find Hernandez sneering at him. He suddenly felt trapped and started to panic. He put all his effort into not letting the panic come to the surface. He felt his heart start to beat faster as a need to get away from Hernandez overtook all Dee's senses. He glanced ahead of him. Just five more steps, then get the hell out of there. Hopefully there will be people in the hallway on the other side of the stairwell door. If not, it was the floor for the forensics lab. He'd go to Jim's office, or one of Jim's assistants.

Three more steps. Dee went to go up one more step when the dizziness hit him again, worse than it had. He swayed and his foot missed the stair. He tried to hold onto the rail tighter, but the palm of his hand was sweaty from his rising panic and it slipped from the railing. Dee closed his eyes with the awful sense that he was falling, going down a full flight of stairs. He had no thought for himself. Chances are he could survive the fall, even with a broken bone or two, but the baby might not.

He cried out in fear.

Suddenly he was being held by two arms and pulled up the last remaining steps. He looked up with blurry vision to notice Hernandez was setting him down on the first step.

"Don't look down," he heard Hernandez say. "Keep your head down and your eyes closed. Once I know I can leave you alone for a minute without you going rolling down the stairs on me, I'll go get help."

"Get Ryo," Dee muttered, doing as instructed. The relief that he was at the top of the stairs and not laying at the bottom was so strong, it caused another wave of dizziness.

"Here, let me get you against the wall away from the stairs," Hernandez said, lifting Dee slightly from where he sat to settle him on the landing. "Geez, can't you at least help?"

"S-sorry," Dee said, trying to make it easier for his unlikely savior.

"Stay here. I won't be a minute."

"Thanks."

"Laytner, I may not like your kind, but I'm a cop, not a killer. My job is to protect and serve. Sometimes that includes other cops. Now don't move."

Dee heard the door open and Hernandez leave. "But when they're already dead, they're fair game to you, huh?" Dee remarked to himself. He felt guilty right after saying it. Hernandez did stop him from taking what would be a good chance a fatal fall for the baby, and because of complications in male pregnancies, for him too.

The door opened again.

"Ryo's on his way down," he heard Jim's voice. "Now what the hell did you get yourself into, Dee?"

Dee looked up, his vision clearing a little to see Jim's concerned face as the other man crotched next to him. From above, he heard the rush of feet going down the stairs.

"Dee!" Ryo's voice came from above him. "What the hell happened?"

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," Jim remarked.

"Is he going to be okay?" Hernandez asked.

"Yeah. This type of crap is known to hit during a pregnancy," Jim assured him. "Can you do me a favor and keep back anyone wanting to help or gawk. We have a handle on the situation, and Dee doesn't need a crowed around him."

Ryo was suddenly on his knees next to Dee, hugging him. "Baby, what happened?"

Dee flung his arms around Ryo's neck and held on tightly, burying his face in Ryo's shoulder.

"I'm starting to feel better," Dee replied after a minute of holding Ryo, thankful that his voice was stronger. "I got dizzy and lost my footing. I guess I panicked and that didn't help the dizziness. But I'm okay now."

Despite his reassurances, he found he could not make himself release Ryo. After his earlier fears, finding himself safe in Ryo's arms was an emotional experience. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. He ignored them and continued to hold onto his husband-to-be.

"Can we get you upstairs?" Jim asked. "Ryo and I will help you to the elevator."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I think I can move now."

"Okay." Ryo kissed the top of his head, and gently untangled himself from Dee's tight grip. He got into position to help Dee up. "On the count of three, okay?"

Dee looked up at Ryo. "Yeah."

"One… two… three…" Ryo's strong arms around Dee steadied him, as he pushed himself to his feet.

Jim was standing between them and the stairs, just in case, ready to steady Ryo if needed.

He was able to walk himself out of the stairwell, but with Ryo's support. One of Jim's assistants was already holding the elevator for them. Dee noticed Hernandez standing to the side.

He stopped walked to look over to the rookie cop. "Thanks," Dee said.

Hernandez nodded. "I already told you."

"Yeah. I know."

"Less chitchat and get yourself off this floor," Jim said, taking his arm from the other side of where Ryo was. "You know what my potions do to you."

Dee chuckled weakly as he allowed Ryo and Jim to guide him into the elevator. Dee leaned against the wall. He looked at Ryo's face, seeing the multitude of questions his fiancé had.

"It's that usual dizziness," he told Ryo. "I stopped for a breather on the stairs, and when I started up again, I guess I moved too fast. And lost my footing."

"What was Hernandez doing there?" Ryo asked, his dark eyes telling if the cop had done anything to contribute to the incident, he was most likely to take care of the situation with his bare hands.

"Saving me from a fall," Dee laughed. "And no, I don't need to call Vince. It was one of those normal things that happened at a bad time."

Ryo studied Dee as the elevator came to a stop. "Okay. For now. But…."

"Relax, baby," Dee assured Ryo, gently pushing himself off the wall and starting to walk out of the elevator. "See, I'm fine. I'll explain it all back in our office. After Rose gets there."

"Rose?" Ryo asked suspiciously. "What in the hell do you want Rose to come up for?"

"Just deal with it for now. You'll understand," Dee said as they walked slowly through the hall to their office.

Jim gaffawed and Ryo glared at him. "What do you know?"

Jim raised his hands. "I plea the 5th. Let's just get Dee sitting down and comfortable for a while. Okay?"

Ryo sighed, then had no more time to pursue it. They were greeted by Drake, Marty and Ted, wanting to see for themselves that Dee was okay.

"JJ went to get some orange juice for Dee," Drake explained as they walked along.

Dee cringed. Orange juice unsettled his stomach, and lately also gave him gas. He only drank it in times like this when the dizziness was stronger than a mild wave. It did help, even if he hated to drink the stuff.

He dropped heavily in his chair, and leaned back with a sigh.

Ryo stared at Dee. "Someone call the Commissioner up here, please," he requested. "Because I want to get to the bottom of this now."

JJ came into the office with a bottle of orange juice and held it out to Dee. "I know you hate the stuff, but drink up," he insisted.

Dee grimaced as he took the offered bottle. "I'm supposed to thank you, I guess."

"Just drink it up and feel better," JJ remarked.

Dee sighed, noticing it was already open and took a swallow. The taste was fine, it was what Dee knew would come after that made him hate to drink it.

"Drink it all," Ryo insisted, running his fingers lightly along Dee's cheeks, then down his neck to his collarbone. "Are you feeling hot?" he asked.

"A little. My metabolism went into overdrive when I realized I was taking a plunge," Dee replied.

"Not too bad, and at least you're sweating," Ryo commented.

"Thanks for the update," Dee grumped, then took another swig of the juice.

"What's going on here?" Rose's voice came into the office. "Dee, what happened?"

"Good morning, Commissioner," Dee greeted. "I requested your presence, because a good word about losing his job, therefore making it harder for us to provide for two children on my pay alone would make Ryo stay here and not go down and attempt to throttle Hernandez."

"He did do something to you," Ryo exclaimed, eyes flashing. "What the hell did that bastard do to you?"

"Easy MacLean," Rose warned.

Dee noted with amusement that Marty and Ted were standing before the door.

Dee shrugged. "It was more me, than him. Really. I just panicked because it was just the two of us in the stairwell. I was already hit with a wave of dizziness from moving too suddenly, then he was there, coming up the stairs, mocking me. I couldn't help but feel threatened." He took Ryo's hands. "You have to understand, it's easier for me to feel threatened these days, being limited with defending myself. Especially on the stairs. It was my imagination going in overdrive. Blame the Carrier killer more for my panic than Hernandez. But that's when I really started to feel dizzy – when I panicked. I was taking a step about then, and missed it. Hernandez stopped me from falling and got me up the rest of the stairs to where you found me."

Ryo nibbled on his lower lip, considering what Dee explained.

"I see," Rose said. "Did Hernandez violate any of the conditions I set upon him, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah, he was taunting me with words."

"I don't think Dee would have panicked if that son of a bitch quietly walked up the stairs and merely glared at Dee," Ryo snapped.

"Ryo!" Rose warned. "Stay calm."

"Calm?" Ryo snapped. "That bastard got Dee upset to the point that he nearly fell down the stairs, and I'm supposed to stay calm?"

"He also stopped me from falling, baby," Dee said, grabbing Ryo's hand again. "He may be a bigoted bastard, but he stopped me, instead of letting me go down and saying, 'Well, there's yet one less of that kind in this world.'"

Ryo sighed.

Drake chuckled. "Now I see why the Commissioner needed to be here."

Rose smirked. "So do I. I'm about to order you out to a liquid lunch, MacLean."

Dee burst out in laughter at the indignant look on Ryo's face. Everyone in the office joined in.

"Baby, I love you," Dee said softly, looking in Ryo's eyes. "I love that you feel the need to be so protective over the two of us. But we don't need you harming or killing someone unless there was no other choice. Got it?"

Ryo let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know. I can't help it, you know."

"I know."

"Dee, I need you to fill out an accident report. Just standard procedure," Rose said.

"I understand, sir."

"Rest up a bit here, then go downstairs and fill it out with the proper personnel," Rose added, making it an order.

"I will."

"And do not leave anything out. Hernandez will be both praised and disciplined for his actions," Rose stated.

Dee nodded. He understood. As an officer of the law, Hernandez would have to also understand Dee was under obligation to leave nothing out when filing the accident report.

The phones started to ring. "I'll get it," Ted said, going into the main CI office.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Rose asked. "You don't need to leave, do you?"

"No. Like I told Ryo, it was just one of those things that happen during pregnancy, but at a bad time."

"Compounded by that bastard," Ryo growled. He snapped his mouth shut when he felt eyes on him. "But that will be dealt with by the Commissioner, I'm sure."

"Exactly, Ryo. Now take care of your partner, and I'll handle the rest after Dee's accident report is filed. If my presence is no longer required, I will be in my office."

"Yes, sir," Ryo sighed. He sat on the desk, watching Dee take out some plain melba toast from his supply drawer as the Commissioner left. The phone rang again. "Goddammit it," he muttered, realizing the phones were only ringing in their office. "Busy day today." He leaned over to answer the phone on Dee's desk. "Criminal Investigations, Detective MacLean speaking," he answered the phone.

Dee watched Ryo take the call as he nibbled on a piece of toast and finished the orange juice.

JJ was fussing by the electric kettle. "Camomile, Dee?" he asked.

Dee noted the frown on Ryo's face as he started to quickly scribble down information as he spoke on the phone. "Uh, yeah. That's fine," he replied to JJ.

"After orange juice, you don't need peppermint," JJ remarked, making a cup of tea for Dee.

"Yeah," Dee replied.

Ryo hung up the phone as JJ handed Dee the mug with tea.

"What's up?" Dee asked.

"I have to leave," Ryo stated, studying Dee again.

"I'm fine, really. You go do your job and don't worry about me. What's up anyway?"

"Jensen is getting brave. That was the Housing detectives. They're going to meet me and we're going to visit the brother."

"He's there?" Dee asked.

"Apparently. He was seen by patrol, and they called the detectives."

"It's going to be a long day for you, babe," Dee sighed, knowing that upon making an arrest, the process can take hours in Central Booking.

Ryo nodded. "Yeah. So I need you to stay out of trouble for that time." He smiled gently at Dee and leaned down to kiss his nose. "Okay?"

"I'll be right here, using my computer for legwork and drinking tea," Dee stated with an amused smile. "You go get your man, so that poor woman can recover without any fear. I won't expect you home until later tonight, but if it seems to take longer, please call. I'll have dinner waiting to be warmed whenever you get home tonight."

"We'll give Dee a ride home tonight," Drake assured Ryo.

"Thanks," Ryo said. He went to his desk to pull together what he would need. As he was going for his coat, Ted walked back into the office, looking grim.

"JJ, Drake, you're both up. Out of the precinct, but it's your case, man."

"Oh God, please don't let it be…." Ryo whispered, pausing from putting his coat on.

Ted nodded. "Sorry, but it is. That was the 1st. They found a body behind a dumpster in a parking lot." He held out the paper to Drake. "Here's all your information. Diana will be meeting you there."

Dee dropped his hands in his face. "Somebody find this fuckin' bastard and soon," he muttered.

"Where exactly within the 1st are we talking?" JJ asked.

"Thompson and Houston," Drake growled.

Ryo's eyes went wide with horror. "Oh God," he uttered.

Ted looked sympathetically down at Dee. "Dee, man, I hope you enjoyed whatever freedom you had until now, because until we find exactly were our victims are grabbed, I believe you are now a caged man."

Ryo started to walk over to Dee's desk.

"I know, I know," Dee groaned. "You don't have to say it, Ryo. Whatever you're thinking, you got it. Okay, baby?"

Ryo sighed. "Dee, I know this is hard, but it'll be harder on all of us if anything did happen to you."

"I know. But I'll tell you one thing, when you find that son of a bitch, you better keep him away from me, because I now have a personal vendetta against the bastard," Dee remarked. "Go Ryo. I'm getting a ride home, and I'll lock all the locks on the door when I get home. Don't worry about me, 'cause that will only make me worry about you more while you're out there."

"You're right." Ryo leaned down to kiss Dee. "I'll see you at home, love. And stay safe."

"JJ and I are on our way out," Drake announced. "If anymore calls about it come in, we have our cells on."

Ted leaned against Dee's desk, watching as Ryo, Drake and JJ went on their way out of the office. He placed a comforting hand on Dee's shoulder. "Cheer up. I'm here for a bit until Marty comes back from Records."

Dee nodded wearily. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Can I get you anything?"

"Nah. I'm fine. I just have to get used to being in a cage, I guess." He gave Ted a weak smile. "Go on and get your work done. Meanwhile, I'll just go back to what I'm allowed to do with mine."

"You need anything, just give me a yell, Dee," Ted said, waving as he left the office, leaving the door between the two spaces open.

Ted looked up as he heard Dee enter the office, and immediately jumped up from his desk. "Dammit, Dee! You could have called out," he exclaimed, going over and practically catching Dee, who fell over.

"It won't stop," Dee said weakly as Ted dragged Dee to a chair.

"What won't?"

"The dizziness."

Ted also noted that while Dee was sweating, he was pale and his skin felt clammy. "Dude, I don't want to scare you, but I'm talking you to be checked out. This isn't good."

Dee shook his head.

"Yes, Dee."

"Y-yeah… that's what I meant… Ted, I'm scared," Dee admitted.

"Stay comfortable there, bud. I'm going to call Rose and we're getting you to your MOP." Ted ran to the phone and dialed the Commissioner's extension. "Sir? It's Dee. He's not looking too good. I think he needs to go and get looked at…."

"Ted…." Dee gasped.

"Dee! God… Commissioner, Dee just collapsed," Ted exclaimed, as he tried to move toward the falling man unsuccessfully and watched Dee fall limp to the floor. He dropped the receiver, already knowing the Commissioner was in action.

A/N: I hoped to get this out earlier, but I also needed to make sure I can get the next chapter up within a week or so of this. 'Cause I don't want to leave everyone hanging where this ends for too long.

I was going to individually reply to all the wonderful reviews I received since the last chapter was posted, but if I did, then it would be another few days before I would get to post this. I need to start contacting most of you to personally thank you. Because of you, this has become my most successful fanfic in all the years I've been writing various fanfiction. And to think I was hesitant to post it at all. Thanks so much!

Also to anyone who emailed me asking for extras – I accidentally deleted some emails I shouldn't have when I found way too many emails from Yahoo groups. So if I didn't get back to you about the extras or 2nd Season, poke me again. But I do highly suggest checking out the 27th Precinct Live Journal (

So how about I stop typing here so I can get this posted? See you all soon!

Chapter 727 of 27


	8. Going 'Round the Bend

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 8

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

-------------------------------

Ryo was at Central Booking in Manhattan, with a long wait in front of him before Cameron Jensen would be booked for assault and attempted murder of his wife. Ryo had toyed with the idea of taking a quick break to call and check in on Dee. It was close to the end of first shift. Ted and Marty would be leaving soon, leaving Dee on his own at the station until Drake and JJ returned from their scene. He knew Dee hated to be alone and hoped with a call, he might cheer his fiancé up some.

That's when he noticed Marty and Ted enter, and upon seeing Ryo, started to make their way over to him. Ryo felt a knot tie in his stomach. He quickly met up with them, to hear them say Dee was rushed to the hospital. As if it was all coordinated for Ted and Marty's arrival, Ryo found out from a clerk that he was relieved from the booking process, and the housing detective who assisted with the arrest would take over as the arresting officer. Ted and Marty were to stay in Ryo's place as the 27th's representative, since they were familiar with the case. Ryo was to give his statements, along with his report at another time. Outside, he found a radio patrol car from the 27th waiting for him to give him a quick ride to the hospital with Ferguson as his driver.

Ryo was out of the squad car before it came to a full stop at the entrance to N.Y. East hospital. As hospital security went to stop the what looked to be a madman making his way into the hospital, Ferguson called out, "That's Detective MacLean, here for Dee Laytner."

A nurse appeared. "Oh yes. Right this way, Detective."

"How is he?" Ryo demanded, as he walked along with the nurse. Their stride was quick, but not fast enough for Ryo. He wanted to be with Dee _now._

"I don't know, to be honest. I was only informed to bring you to the treatment room," the nurse replied.

As they walked through the hall, Ryo noticed a familiar face that before in the past caused him some amusement, but was an unwelcome sight for him at the moment. He glared at Nurse Emiry as they passed her, as if it was her fault Dee was taken to the hospital.

"Was his MOP notified?" Ryo asked.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, Doctor Siworski arrived not long after we called him."

"Thank goodness," Ryo mumbled, finding some comfort in having Dee's personal MOP there.

They rounded a corner and Ryo noticed the Commissioner standing outside a room. Unable to stay in pace with the nurse, Ryo broke out into a sprint and skidded to a stop in front of the Commissioner. He started to make for the door, when Rose grabbed him by his arm. "Hang on, Ryo. You'll only be in the way right now."

"I need to see him," Ryo insisted, trying to pull away from Rose. "How is he? What about the baby?"

"They're both fine, last update I got. Dee's doctor is in there with him. Siworski is working with the attending doctor who saw Dee at his admittance in determining what caused the collapse," Rose explained.

Ryo drew a shuddering breath. "They're really okay?" he asked.

"Yes, Ryo. Both Dee and the baby. Now let the professionals do their jobs to make sure they both stay that way," Rose said.

Ryo sagged against the wall. Rose held out the paper coffee cup he held. "I figured you'd be needing this by now."

Ryo gratefully took the cup with shaking hands, and had a sip. "Oh God. When Ted said Dee collapsed on him and that's all he knew…." He covered his face with his free hand. "I had never been so scared." He looked up at the Commissioner. "Thank you, sir. For making sure Dee was taken care of quickly, and for pulling strings to bring me here."

"I knew you would have had a collapse yourself if you were kept in the dark about this until after Jensen was booked. Excellent job on that, by the way. My job is to make sure the three of you survive this in one piece, Ryo."

"Yeah… well, thanks anyway." Ryo had a longer drink of the coffee.

He heard the door to the room open and he looked up anxiously.

"Ryo," Vince greeted. "Dee's fine. The baby is fine. Yes, you can see him now," the doctor continued in his way of getting to the point, and answering questions he knew Ryo would have before they could leave the detective's mouth. "He's a little worn and will be for another day or two."

"What happened?" Ryo demanded.

"We have a general idea, but we're still wanting to do more tests. What we do know is that they're both fine now." Vince moved out of the way of the door to allow Ryo to enter.

Ryo walked into the room, clenching his coffee cup, his eyes settling on Dee in the bed. Dee looked as pale as Ryo had ever seen him. IVs and monitoring devices were hooked up to Dee.

Dee opened his eyes and gave Ryo a weak smile. "Hey, is that for me?" he joked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I doubt it, since it's nothing you have no business drinking," Ryo said, going over to the side of the bed. Carefully he leaned over to kiss Dee's forehead, handing the coffee to Vince. "How are you feeling, baby?" He gently rested a hand on the small bump under the sheet.

"We're both okay," Dee said, his voice still low. "I'm sorry, baby."

"For what?" Ryo asked.

"For scaring you."

"Hey, don't worry about me. You just worry about getting well, baby. We still have a wedding you need to be at."

Dee smiled. "Yeah. I do, huh?" His eyelids fluttered a little, before he opened them again. "I'm also sorry about one more thing."

Ryo took the hand close to him and carefully entwined their fingers without disrupting the IVs on the arm. He kissed Dee's forehead again. "I told you. Nothing to be sorry about."

"Yeah, but… We had our first ultrasound not long ago."

"It's okay, Dee," Ryo assured Dee. "It had to be done to make sure the baby was okay, right?"

Dee nodded.

"You're tired, love."

Vince shook his head. "It's okay for him to start getting some healing sleep, but once he heard you were on the way, the stubborn bastard has been fighting to stay awake. You didn't miss much, Ryo. I really wouldn't count this as a full ultrasound anyway. We couldn't make out much of the more interesting features you'd both be interested in seeing."

"Show him anyway," Dee said, his eyes on Vince.

"Only if you finally get some rest until we get a room to shove you in overnight," Vince replied.

"Show me what?" Ryo asked.

"The one sweet thing that came of this," Dee replied with a gentle smile. "And yes, Doctor. I'll get some rest. I don't think I have much of a choice in a few. So hurry it up."

"So demanding," Vince remarked. He went over to a stand and picked up a piece of photo paper. Holding it out to Ryo, he said, "It doesn't look like much, but that little fuzzy dark blotch over there is your son or daughter."

Ryo's eyes went wide as he stared at the black and white image before him. Against a murky dark grayish background was what Vince described – a fuzzy dark blotch, but in the photo it did not seem so little. It took up most of the photo.

"The best angle we could find happens to be because the little one is hogging up that corner," Vince chuckled.

Carefully, Ryo took the offered picture from Vince and rested gingerly on the edge of the bed, feeling a need to sit down before his knees gave out.

Ryo's eyes finally strayed from the photo to Dee, sweeping down to the bump, then back up again to Dee's face. He smiled. "It looks just like you," he joked.

Dee laughed weakly. "I knew you would say that. But I definitely see some of you in there too."

"Hm? You know, you're right. So do I. I see our baby. Oh my God, Dee…." Ryo was speechless, overwhelmed with staring at the tangible proof of their baby.

Dee's hand covered Ryo's. "I know. I felt the same way when I first saw it."

"As you might have noticed, it's a little hard for us to pin down a sex right now," Vince said. "I didn't expect much more, especially with this one's thick skin. It seems to include the uterine sac. Hopefully after week 20, we might be able to make out more. I know I was right holding off on ordering the general ultrasound until after then. We'll take it as it comes during the next two monthly visits. But you have this until then."

Ryo worked his mouth a few times before he got sound out of it. "And the baby's okay?"

"From all indications, the little one seems fine. Good strong heartbeat, and we even picked up some movement. In a few more weeks, Dee will be picking up those movements."

"Thank God," Ryo whispered. He kissed Dee's forehead again. "I want you to get some sleep now. Okay?"

Dee nodded slightly, his eyes closing. "'Kay."

"I love you, Dee. Oh God, do I love you."

A soft smile curved Dee's lips. "Love you, too."

Ryo played with stray strands of Dee's hair, pushing them off his face in a way that Dee found tranquilizing. Less than a minute later, Dee was asleep. The monitors Dee was hooked up to assured them it was only sleep.

Vince motioned Ryo to follow him out the door, stopping by the attending doctor.

Low, the other doctor said, "We'll prepare him, so when we get the call a room is ready, we can take him right up."

Vince nodded. "Good. I'm going to stick around for a while, if you don't mind."

"I see no problem. He is your patient," the doctor said. "Thank goodness. He's a stubborn one."

Vince snorted. "If he wasn't, then I'd have been really worrying about something being seriously wrong." Vince winked at Ryo. "Come along, Ryo and I'll fill you in."

The moment they were on the other side of the closed door, Vince started to explain, "I want him to stay overnight for further tests and observations. Which is just as well, because he's going to be weak as a kitten for another day. I see no reason not to release him tomorrow, if all the tests come out fine. But he'll still have to take a few days bed rest."

Ryo nodded. "So what brought this on?"

"Dizziness was the culprit," Vince replied. "From what I heard, he came to in the ambulance to throw up, and went out again. There's nothing seriously wrong with Dee or the baby. I can see from tests so far is that he's been under a great deal of stress. He also has a major iron deficiency, most probably aggravated by the stress."

Ryo slumped against the wall again. "Well, yeah," he said guiltily. "He has been under a lot of stress and pressure lately. That Carrier case is wiping Dee out and there's really not much to do about it, except catching the bastard."

"I hope you do. I don't want another visit from you two like earlier this week, please. I'm afraid you're right about that. I got Dee to talk a little about his feelings of being trapped in the office while you go out to do your job, being left alone in the office with everyone out, needing to be guarded when he's outside. His biggest stress point is admitting he's afraid and wants the escorts."

Ryo looked over to Vince. "I didn't think he'd admit that so easily to anyone," Ryo said.

"You know, of course," Vince commented, not as a question.

"Yes," Ryo replied. "He told me not long ago. It kills him to agree so quickly to stay put. His detective instincts are screaming to do what he's trained for, but protection of the baby is overriding everything else. I didn't think it would be a serious area of stress in itself."

He heard Rose sigh heavily from across the hall. When Ryo looked over to him in question, the Commissioner explained, "At least he isn't that much like Tyler. Dee knows when he has to pull out of the action, and when he needs help. But I feared it would still have repercussions. Dee isn't a man to take life sitting down. There's a reason why he loves being a detective, yet tries to avoid paperwork. To Dee, that's now been taken away, I'm afraid."

Vince nodded. "Yes. But his Carrier instincts did override his detective ones. In time, I'm sure he'll come to acceptance that bringing a child into this world is not being helpless. Especially when you're a man. For every Carrier born child, the miracle of birth is personified. Talking to Dee today, I have every reason to believe he'll work it out." To Ryo, he said, "I can recommend a psychologist trained with Carrier anxieties. It might help, but the bottom line is, it's up to Dee to overcome this."

"Did you mention this to Dee yet?" Ryo asked.

"Yes. And he said he'd try." Vince smiled, placing a comforting hand on Ryo's shoulder. "He said he'd do anything to make sure he gets through this to the end with a healthy baby."

Ryo looked up at the taller man, unable to keep himself from smiling. "He said that?" Watching Vince's nod, Ryo let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. But Vince, there's something else that I'm sure had to do with this…."

"Dee told me about the argument the two of you had. You did good in handling it and no, you did not need to call anyone after getting his body temperature down as quickly as you had. It happens – too often. Why do you think we include those instructions on what to do without calling EMTs in your pamphlet? As long as it went down within the time considered safe, it was fine."

"If you insist."

"Dee's getting warmer, his tone turning more on a red side probably had a lot to do with this little episode of his. And to be honest, there was nothing to be done to stop it. So don't start blaming yourself. From what I can see, his iron levels started to run a little low in the last couple of days. The stress threw it all off. I can't say for certain until the tests are done, but I think once we increase Dee's iron intake, he should be fine. And that's the blind fine tuning we do from experience that I warned you about, Ryo. This was a warning sign. Nothing more. Dee's body requires more iron, and so does the baby. We'll give it to him."

"Do you honestly think that's it?" Ryo asked. He looked thoughtful. "You're saying that he's anemic."

"Temporarily. And that's normal. Either it will go away, or we can keep it under control until the baby is born. The tests are precautions to make sure we don't miss anything. With time after taking iron supplements and increasing his intake in food, we'll determine how temporary it is."

"Fine." Ryo still looked worried. He did not like hearing Dee can be anemic, even temporary. Ryo had decided back when they found out about the baby that he would make certain they would prevent things like that, by assuring Dee got the proper nutritional values in his food.

They turned as the door opened. "We're taking Mr. Laytner up to his room now," the other doctor informed them.

Rose came to stand next to Ryo as they started to wheel Dee upstairs to his room. Vince gestured to them. "You can go upstairs with us. Once Dee's settled in, you can stay with him, Ryo."

"Thank you," Ryo said.

"I need to make a few calls, but I'll be up there soon," Vince said.

"Okay. See you then." Ryo quickened his pace to get behind the aide pushing the gurney with Dee on it. They allowed him to slip into the elevator. Immediately Ryo gently took Dee's hand in his, his eyes on the sleeping man.

------------------------------

Dee felt the hand holding his before he was fully awake. He opened his eyes to see exactly what he expected. Ryo was sitting beside the bed, holding his hand. When Ryo noticed Dee looking up at him, he smiled.

"Hey beautiful," Ryo softly said, "how are you feeling?"

"Tired," Dee replied.

"Well, you just rest up. Rose said you're on medical leave, and you're not to come back unless you're holding a slip from Vince stating you're cleared to work."

Dee chuckled. "Imagine me getting in trouble by Rose for working," He let out an amused snort.

Ryo smiled at Dee, leaning over to kiss his forehead. "Thank goodness you're okay," he sighed, resting his forehead against Dee's.

"Yeah. We both are."

"We're going to have to make sure you stay that way," Ryo remarked with a look on his face that told Dee there was no room for argument.

Dee decided to let it go. He said the other thing on his mind, "Mother."

"She's on her way. So is Bikky. And Elena said you better rest up."

"You made sure they understand I'm only here for a bit just because of tests, right?" Dee started to frown.

Ryo kissed the wrinkles on Dee's forehead. "Relax baby. Yes, they know. I couldn't scare either of them unnecessarily," Ryo said.

Dee sighed. "Damn, so now I'm stuck in bed for a few days." He started to frown again. "We don't have a few days, Ryo. We need to use whatever time we have to…."

"Dee," Ryo said firmly. "You work yourself up like that, you won't make the wedding. Now relax, don't fret and we'll work something out. Got it? And if I see you starting to stress over it…."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just a bad time for this to happen."

"I think it's a good time," Ryo said. "It happened at a time that it can be corrected. Not later on when it could really be a problem."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Now I want you rest some more before Mother and Bikky get here, okay?"

"Fine. Hey, what happened to the Commissioner? He's the one that came with me here."

"He left shortly after you got settled in here. He's going to let Ted and Marty know you're okay, since they're both still stuck at Central Booking in my place."

"Damn. Poor Ted. From what I remember, I think I really shook him up."

"We'll all survive, Dee." Ryo smiled. "That's 'cause you're okay now."

Dee smiled up at Ryo. "You have a way with words, Mister."

"Oh really? It's a talent, huh?" Ryo grinned at Dee. When he kissed Dee again, it was softly on his lips.

They were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Ryo stood up. "I better get that. You stay put."

Dee snorted. "Like I can go anywhere right now."

Ryo opened the door to find Mother Lane with a nurse. Mother threw her arms around Ryo in greeting. She pulled away, smiling at Ryo. "Look who I found downstairs?" She moved aside to reveal Bikky and Carol.

"Ah, the family's all here. Dee's awake too," Ryo greeted, taking Mother by her arm and leading her in.

"Is Dee really okay?" Bikky asked as he followed them in with Carol next to him.

"Yes, midget man, I'm really okay."

"Dee!" Bikky moved quickly over to the bed.

Dee had his arms out to hug his son. "I'm fine, Bikky," he assured the boy. "We're both fine. So don't you worry, okay?"

Bikky nodded, still hugging Dee. "Yeah."

"Bikky, easy with the IVs," Ryo warned as he stopped Mother next to his relieved son.

Dee laughed. "He's okay." He looked up to Mother studying him and smiled.

Bikky looked up. "Oh!" He gave Dee another quick squeeze, then moved out of Mother's way.

Mother gently hugged Dee. "Oh Dee, what did you get yourself into this time?" she joked.

"Decided to take a few days off from work without using any of my leave days," Dee replied.

Ryo had a hand on Bikky's shoulder, while his other hand played with the boy's blonde hair.

Bikky looked up at Ryo while Mother fussed around Dee. "Was it okay to bring Carol?"

Ryo looked at Carol, whose eyes were on Dee. "I don't think you had a choice there, bud," he chuckled. "It's fine. We're all family."

Bikky nodded his head as Mother made room for Carol to go over to Dee and say hello. "How long is Dee going to have to stay here?" Bikky asked.

"Until tomorrow. Like I said over the phone, they just want to run some tests to be sure."

"Oh, okay."

"And I expect you to help around for a few days, because Dee needs to stay in bed for a few more days to rest up."

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Me too," Carol chimed in.

Mother laughed. "Well, I already made arrangements with my assistants at the orphanage, so you'll have me helping too."

Dee gazed up at Mother. "Why do I always have to get hurt or ill to have you stay at my place?"

"Because I have a nice huge house filled with darling children where I live. And those darling children love seeing you," she replied with a wink.

Dee laughed. "Hint taken." He smiled up at his mother as the elderly nun ran her fingers through his hair. Dee's eyes went to Ryo, who was standing with Bikky and Carol. "Oh! Ryo, please. Do you have the… you know."

"Yes, I have it," Ryo replied, smiling brightly. "We have something to show you," he said, going over to the bedside table. He opened the drawer to pull out the sonogram picture. "They had to make sure the baby was all right," Ryo explained, "so they gave Dee this souvenir." He looked at Dee, who nodded. "Mother, this is your grandchild," he said, handing the picture to her.

Bikky's eyes went wide. "What?" He stood next to Mother, standing up on his toes to look.

Mother had a charming smile on her face. "Oh my, Dee."

"Yeah, Ryo and I agree, she looks just like us," Dee joked.

"She?" Mother asked.

"Uh… we're not sure. Vince said it's too soon to determine," Dee replied. "And yes, Bikky, that's the first photo of your sister or brother."

Mother handed it to Bikky so him and Carol could look, smiling down at the teens.

"It looks like a blob," Bikky announced.

Ryo laughed. "Rumor has it that's because Dee has a thick skin." He winked at Dee, who laughed.

Mother sat down in the chair next to the bed Ryo offered her. She ran her fingers through his hair again. "How are you feeling, darling?"

"Tired, but otherwise, I feel fine. No more dizziness, no spots."

"That's good. Even if Ryo made sure I knew you both were fine, it's still not a good feeling having to drop everything to go see your son in the hospital. So hopefully we'll keep this to a minimum. Say, the next time will be when instead of that wonderful photo, there will be a baby?"

Dee smiled. "I agree. This wasn't fun."

"You look like you're keeping yourself awake for us, baby boy."

"No, I'm…." Dee looked up at her, knew he could never lie to his mother. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm starting to get sleepy again. But I already slept."

"Not near enough," Ryo replied, his arms folded. "Now is not the time to decide to be a charming host. We'll still be here when you wake up."

"You listen to your almost husband, Dee and get some sleep." She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I love you, my darling son."

"Love you too, Mother."

"Later Dee," Bikky said. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah," Carol said. "We'll see you later."

"You're all leaving me now?"

"I'll stay here," Ryo said.

"Okay." Dee closed his eyes.

Mother pulled Ryo to the side. "When he's asleep, come to the lounge."

Ryo nodded, knowing he did not have any other choice but to agree. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, taking Dee's hand and watched as Mother ushered Bikky and Carol out of the room.

Ryo walked into the lounge to find Mother sitting with Bikky and Carol, talking to them. Both teens were eating from a picnic basket. Mother looked up and noticed Ryo.

"Come darling," she said, patting a seat next to her. "Sit down and eat."

Ryo smiled, realizing in her haste, she still took time to make sure everyone was taken care of. "Thank you, Mother. But I was hoping to find some coffee."

"Coffee is not a meal, Ryo," Mother stated. "And I thought you were cutting down with Dee."

Ryo shrugged ruefully. "Honestly, Dee allows me to drink it all I want. It seems that he loves the smell of it, but his taste went off in drinking it. Like the cigarettes, gone. He doesn't drink coffee anymore."

"Oh? Well, that's good news. But you still need to eat. Now sit here. It's not much, but a nice meatloaf sandwich with some vegetables will do you wonders. And if you really need it, Bikky can go run and get you some coffee."

Bikky looked up from his near empty plate. "Yup. Carol and I can even run down the street to get you real coffee instead of this stuff here."

Ryo sat down next to Mother with a sigh. "I'll try, but I'm really not hungry. My stomach is still all twisted up from this."

Mother handed Ryo a plate and napkins and rubbed his back soothingly. "Dee is on the mend, so don't you go making yourself ill now. Dee doesn't need that. And it just won't do in finishing the plans for your wedding. Am I right?"

Ryo nodded.

"You look exhausted too, darling one."

Bikky stood up. "We'll go get some coffee now, even if maybe it might be for later." He snickered, knowing Mother too well.

"That's fine, sweetie. Do you need money?" Mother asked.

Bikky shook his head. "Nah, I have the emergency money my dads make me carry."

"Good. Ryo, take a bite."

Ryo started to roll his eyes, but stopped himself in time. He took a small bite of the sandwich. The meatloaf was very good. He knew that already from the aroma. He was not sure his stomach would handle it. He also realized he had no choice but to make himself eat as much of it as he could. He swallowed the bite and looked over to Bikky. "You be careful, okay?"

"Yeah. I will. We won't be long," Bikky replied.

Ryo took another small bite, watching Bikky and Carol wave, then leave.

Mother patted his shoulder. "See? After you eat something, you'll feel better. Of course, you'll feel much better getting some sleep. So while you finish this, I'm going to speak to a nurse about having a cot moved into Dee's room. I don't suppose you're planning on going home tonight, are you?"

"No, ma'am," Ryo replied.

"Then I guess I should see about that cot. Do you want to send Bikky home in a cab to bring you some overnight items?"

"Um, yeah. I guess that's a good idea. I should check to see if they want Dee to stay in a hospital gown. If not, I'll bet he'd be happy with a pair of pajamas."

"You just keep eating there, sweetie. I'll take care of everything else." She kissed Ryo's cheek, then stood up and left the lounge.

"She left me, trusting I'd eat most of it, instead of throwing it out. Damn, now I have no choice but to eat," Ryo muttered, making himself take another bite. No matter how much he ate, he knew it would not alleviate the hollow feeling in his stomach. That was going to stay with him until Dee was back home and not in a hospital.

"Shit, I still need to call Drake and JJ," he muttered, adding yet another thing he had to do.

------------------------------------

"But Drakey, I just have to go. I need to see for myself that Dee and the little one are okay."

"Jemmy," Drake sighed, leaning his arms on his desk. "Ryo said that Dee was okay, and just needs to get more iron. He also said that Dee's exhausted and will be sleeping a lot. So why do you want to go down there and keep the poor man awake?"

"Dee doesn't have to talk. I just want to see him. And I'll bet Ryo isn't doing very well right now. We need to make sure he's okay too."

"Dee's mother is there with them. Ryo said as much. She made him eat, she got him a cot and approval to stay the night in Dee's room. Ryo will be fine too."

JJ slumped back in his chair. "They're our friends, and we're just going to think about going home?"

"Yes," Drake replied. "I'm sure they don't need a whole bunch of well wishers converging down on them right now. We can call in the morning and see how Dee is doing, and maybe go see them then. Right now, I think they just need the privacy of family."

JJ pouted for a reply.

"Jemmy, if I was sick and exhausted to the point of a collapse, what would you want?"

"For people to leave you the hell alone to get some rest." He looked up at Drake, who was opening his mouth, a satisfied look on his face. "But not Dee and Ryo. Everyone else, yes, stay away. Not them."

"No. I just don't think it's a good idea. I am thinking to offer taking Bikky for the night if Mother Lane has to go back to the orphanage tonight," Drake suggested.

"Yeah. That's good. He likes you better than me, anyway."

Drake chuckled. "You and Bikky get along just fine now that you're stopped slobbering all over Dee. And I'm afraid that right now, if you go to the hospital, you're going to do it again. Then I might have to smack you one."

JJ rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't slobber. Okay, fine. You take Bikky if they don't have anyone to watch him. But I am ordering flowers before I leave tonight."

"Jemmy, you don't have to go home, you know," Drake said, standing up and going over to JJ's desk.

"Well if that brat… I mean if Bikky's there…"

"You come over and show Bikky there's no reason for him to believe you're still after one of his dads. Once he realizes that, I'm sure he'll come around one of these days. And whether Bikky stays or not, you're staying over tonight. That's to make sure you don't go to the hospital anyway."

"I want to sleep in a bed, Drake. Not a couch."

"You can. Like I said. Show Bikky you're not after Dee anymore."

"Then Dee and Ryo will know. I thought we agreed?"

"Until we felt the time was right. Well, with this happening, so what? They find out. If anyone understands keeping something like this secret, it's Dee and Ryo."

"If you think you're really ready for that, yeah, fine. I'll go call for flowers and you try to get in touch with Ryo about Bikky."

"I thought you'd see it my way." Drake smiled and leaned down to lightly kiss JJ's lips.

-----------------------

Ryo walked back into the hospital room, smiling at Dee, who was looking up at him. "Sorry about that. It was Drake. I had to call him back."

"You better not say next that you're being called back on duty," Dee stated.

"No. Nothing like that." He sat on the edge of the bed, where Dee made room for him. "Drake wanted to know if we needed someone to keep Bikky for the night. I told him that he's at the apartment with Mother and Carol. He'll call again tomorrow to see if you're up to visitors."

"Depends on what time they break me out of here, I guess." Dee closed his eyes.

"We'll see whether you need to get much more sleep when you get home before I allow any visitors, no matter how well their intentions are." Carefully Ryo laid on the bed, alongside Dee and draped his arm across Dee. "Besides, when you get home, I want to wrap myself around you and hold you like I really want to without worrying about loosening anything."

Dee opened his eyes to look at Ryo. "I love you too, Ryo."

"You know I do," Ryo chuckled. "Go to sleep, love."

"I want to see the picture again."

Ryo rubbed his face in Dee's shoulder. "Only if you allow yourself to go to sleep again. Because you know later when you want to sleep, they're going to come in and wake you up for meds."

"Thank goodness they got a room on the OB floor," Dee sighed. "Because that gorilla woman is loose somewhere. And I hear they keep her away from pregnant people and babies."

Ryo chuckled, leaning back to reach for the picture. "I heard that too. She walks by the nursery and all the babies start crying." He held the picture for Dee to see. "Here. There's our precious little chibi, gorgeous."

"She is adorable, isn't she?"

"Dee, that's the second time."

"Oh, yeah it is." Dee looked at the image again. "Because when I look at it, I see a she."

"Who knows what might be lurking in those murky shadows, Dee. And it might mean the chibi is a boy."

"Maybe. But I don't know. I look at her and she screams 'she'."

"Dee, we can hardly make out a head from an ass in that photo and you're determining gender?"

"Well, let's see," Dee said slowly, lifting a hand to point at the photo. "Right here, this little blob is her head. There's the edge of a little arm. Her other arm is out of range. And her knees are curled up."

Ryo shook his head amused. "Now you're going to say you're that in tune, huh?"

Dee gave Ryo a sloppy smile. "Nah. Vince pointed it all out to me when he first showed it to me."

"You! Nobody told me features were made out."

Dee laughed softly. "That's cause I told Vince I wanted to be the one to show you. And I wanted it to be at a moment like this, just the two of us, relaxed. Tomorrow you can play the same trick on Bikky." He winked at Ryo.

"You… Nevermind. Now you got to have your fun, and saw our chibi again. So can you try to go to sleep now?" Ryo kissed Dee's cheek.

"Yes. I can do that now. With us just like this. I want you wrapped around me more, but this is better than before. So I'll take it."

----------------------------------------

**February 11, 2006**

Ryo entered the apartment with Dee, his arm around the other man for support. Bikky trailed behind with the suitcase he had packed the night before.

"Mother, we're here," Ryo called out, smiling at Dee. "And I'm going to drop you on the couch for a few minutes. Okay?"

Dee nodded. "The window seat would be better," he replied.

"Window seat it is, then. Any dizziness?" Ryo asked, as they made their way across the living room.

"Nope. Just feel weak. No dizziness, no spots, no aches and pains. Well other than down there sometimes. But that's going to last for a few more weeks."

Ryo gently placed Dee on the cushioned window seat, reaching for the large pillows to prop Dee and get him comfortable. Mother walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. She watched as Ryo shook out a light throw and settled it on Dee as gently as if the seated man was made of fine porcelain. Her smile widened as Ryo gently kissed Dee's lips.

"Comfortable?" he asked Dee.

"Yeah."

"Now you sit tight while Bikky and I go drag up the botanical garden you accumulated during your 24 hour stay." Ryo caressed Dee's cheek.

"I'm loved. What can I say?" Dee smiled at Ryo. "You're amazing."

"I learned from the best," Ryo replied with a wink. "Now you play nice with your mother while us slaves lug in the loot." He kissed Dee again, before turning to find Bikky waiting at the door. Ryo went up to Bikky, ruffling his hair. "Let's tackle those weeds, shall we?"

Mother laughed as the two left the apartment. "Ryo's in a very good mood," she observed, going up to Dee. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah. Clean bill of health, more or less, a photo of our baby and my being home instead of having to stay longer for more tests can do that," Dee replied, hugging the nun back.

"Yes, I know. The poor dear was so afraid they'd find something to keep you in longer. So did they say how bad is the anemia?" she asked, sitting down next to Dee.

"Not very. I definitely need more iron. Vince ordered me a new prescription for my vitamins and an iron supplement. I'm still supposed to make sure I get at least 30 gms of iron a day, more if possible."

"30? Wow," Mother exclaimed. "Now aren't you glad when you were younger I taught you to appreciate liver?" She winked at him.

"Yeah, I can deal with it."

"Good, because that's what you're having for dinner tonight. And I made you a banana crème pie for dessert."

"Don't tell me. I don't get the pie until I eat all my liver," Dee said with a smile.

"You got it. Along with the grilled onions, and broccoli and whatever other vegetables I decide to throw in there." She leaned slightly against Dee, putting her arm around him. "Oh Dee, last night I thanked the Lord for giving us just a warning and nothing wrong. You're my treasure and that baby is a blessing."

Dee smiled and rubbed his head against hers. "I'll bet you did more than just pray for thanks. There was probably a novena mass going on last night."

Mother snorted. "Of course there was. And you know I had nothing to do with it, except tell the others at the church what happened. They all love you, too, Dee."

Dee pressed his face against her shoulder. "What do I expect having a nun for a mother? I love you, Mother. And thank you for making sure Ryo took care of himself."

"You know I love you too, my son. And Ryo is part of your package now. Of course, I have to take care of him too." She hugged him again, before standing up. "Now why don't I make you some nice hot tea? And maybe a little before dinner snack?

"Ooh! Yes. Please," Dee exclaimed.

Mother laughed. They both turned their heads when the door opened.

"Oh man," Bikky huffed, carrying in a couple of vases with flower arrangements.

"You know Dee," Ryo's voice came from behind what appeared to be legs coming out of flowers, "I hate to see what I'm going to be carrying in when the baby is born."

Dee and Mother laughed.

"You know, maybe we can use these for the wedding?" Bikky asked, putting his load down. He gave Dee an impish look.

"Now there's a plan, Biks," Ryo agreed, setting his down too. "Now, we'll worry about where to set them up later." He ruffled Bikky's hair again. "And you," he stated, starting to walk toward Dee. "Into pajamas and bed with you until dinner."

"But Mother promised me a snack with tea," Dee protested.

"I can bring it into the bedroom just as easily as here. Ryo's right. If you rest now, and look fine during dinner, we might let you sit on the couch a little while and watch some TV," Mother said.

Dee sighed. "It's a gang up. I know it. Okay okay."

Ryo held his hand out to Dee. "C'mon. Off to bed with you two."

Dee chuckled as he took Ryo's hand and allowed his fiancé to help him to his feet.

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A/N: Oh WOW! So many wonderful reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you! HUGS to all!

I'm glad from comments and reviews that so far, it's worth the wait. Hopefully the wait wasn't that long this time. I can't promise as quick an update for chapter 9. I try to keep myself ahead by at least 5 draft chapters. Plus I'm currently getting to the countdown of a wedding. So if I don't post 9 soon, that means I'm wrapped up in getting these two hotties finally married.

Sorry about the cliffie in the last chapter, but I'll have to admit it was intentionally planned. And far from the last one before this epic saga is done.

Now once again, lemme stop the yakking and get this posted.

Ja ne!


	9. Recovery

The UnexpectedChapter 9

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 9

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**February 12, 2006**

Ryo walked into the apartment, glad for the warmth that greeted him. He had already shaken his coat off in the lobby, then in the elevator and again in the entry hallway to their apartment.

The TV was playing and Dee looked up from the couch. "It took you that long to get home?" Dee asked, as Ryo removed his coat to hang up, along with his scarf. Ryo had called Dee earlier when he was leaving to head home.

"There's a blizzard out there, Dee," Ryo replied. He walked across the living room toward the couch Dee sat on in his stocking feet.

"So I've been told. I've been getting calls all day long from well wishers who decided it's best to stay home."

"As your wise mother would say, there's a blessing in everything," Ryo remarked, smiling at Dee. "You're better off resting another day without having to entertain."

"Exactly what I said," Mother said, coming into the living room from the dining room. She grinned and winked at Ryo. "Ryo, you look like you're still thawing out. Let me get you a nice cup of hot cocoa."

"That sounds great, Mother. Thank you."

"Me too, Mom. Please?" Dee remarked.

"Heaven forbid I should serve anything chocolate without giving you any," Mother stated, amused. "Of course, Dee. You too."

Dee patted the space next to him on the couch, looking at Ryo.

"Soon the chicken and dumplings will be ready. Then you can have a nice hot meal," Mother stated.

Ryo and Dee grinned at each other. Quickly Ryo sat on the couch, putting an arm around Dee. They kissed, then chuckled. Ryo bent over to kiss Dee's tummy. "Hello to you too, chibi."

Dee giggled as Ryo looked up at Dee from that position.

"What are you two imps up to now?" Mother asked, staring lovingly at the couple.

It was Ryo who replied. "Dee made chicken and dumplings for dinner the night he told me about the baby." He kissed Dee's tummy again, realizing the swell was definitely no longer a gentle swell. "Wow, that was like two and a half months ago." He sat up to kiss Dee once more.

Mother chuckled and went on her way into the kitchen.

Dee and Ryo remained cuddling on the couch, kissing softly. Ryo's hand rested on the swell, gently rubbing. Ryo was amused as Dee practically started to purr with contentment.

"How were you feeling today?" Ryo asked between kisses.

"Better. Much better."

Ryo studied Dee. His lover still looked pale, but overall seemed to be improving from the day before when he brought Dee home from the hospital. "I'm sorry I took almost the whole day," he apologized, pushing Dee's bangs from his eyes.

"It's okay. You needed to get your report on Jenson in. And there is a blizzard."

"I love you, Dee."

"Love you, too."

They looked up at the sound of a throat clearing to find Mother standing before them, holding a tray. With a smile, she placed the tray on the coffee table.

Dee's eyes lit up. Ryo laughed.

Mother handed Ryo, then Dee a mug of hot chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream. Still on the tray was a third mug, along with three bowls of bread pudding. "I thought Ryo might like a warm snack as well after dealing with traveling home in the blizzard."

"I didn't realize it until now, but yes, I do," Ryo stated with a soft smile. "Thank you, Mother."

Mother picked up her mug and dish and sat down in the easy chair near the couch.

"Where's Bikky?" Ryo asked as they had their snack.

"He went with Carol to the park with some of the other kids in the building," Dee replied. "I called Elina, by the way. Carol's going to stay with us for another night."

"We don't need you going out there again later in this to take her home," Mother said to Ryo.

Dee nodded in agreement. "I told them they could stay out until dinner, then no more outside for the night."

"That boy of yours told me earlier the snow reminded him to make sure his sled doesn't get rusty, so he can take the baby sledding when it's old enough," Mother informed them.

Dee looked amazed. Not so much by what Mother told him, because lately it sounded like what Bikky would say. "Was Bikky around that long that he was once young enough to pull around on a sled?" he asked Ryo, reminded of the passage of time.

"Yup. We had Bikky that long."

"You did," Dee corrected Ryo. "He lived with you."

"He may have lived with me, and you may have denied it back then, but he was our kid from day one. I never felt like I was raising him alone, Dee. When he needed you the most, you never let him down. You risked your life twice saving his. I'm just thankful you're both still with me."

"Hmm." Dee leaned against Ryo, finishing his bread pudding.

"Hey, who's digging out the kids at Mother's?" Ryo asked.

"Oh," Dee chuckled.

Mother rolled her eyes, shaking her head amused.

"What?" Ryo asked.

"JJ and Drake," Dee replied. "They called this morning asking if I needed anything. So I told them instead of making their way here, I'd rest easier knowing the kids could get out without breaking their necks and Mother won't have any lawsuits should someone slip on the sidewalk. So they went to shovel. Hey! Don't look at me that way. They asked what they could do to help, and that does help me best. Mother's mind is at ease. That means mine is."

Ryo laughed. "I have to admit I'd have done the same thing if I answered the phone."

Dee and Mother laughed with Ryo.

"We do owe them a meal or something now," Ryo said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we do," Dee agreed with a wink.

After they finished their snack, and talked for a few minutes, Mother got up to wash their dishes. She insisted Ryo stay where he was and assured him that she was quite capable of handling dishes for three adults. As she bustled into the kitchen, Ryo grinned at Dee. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"You still look pale. That's not a good shade on you."

"Yeah, well, Vince said it will take a few more days. But if you're hinting I need to take a nap, I should tell you I'm all slept out right now."

Ryo chuckled. "I take it that means you slept earlier?"

"Yes. I even fell asleep right here on the couch."

"Good." Ryo started to get up.

Dee watched Ryo go into the coat closet. "What are you up to? Remember, Mother's in the next room."

Ryo snorted. "Unfortunately none of that for at least a few more days, baby."

Dee pouted, realizing the truth in Ryo's statement.

"So what I think we should do is this," Ryo said. He took out three thick books from the upper shelf that looked like oversized photo albums. He grinned at Dee's confused look. "Remember the errand I needed to run from the hospital yesterday morning?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember the night before I said we'd work things out for the wedding?"

"Yeah." Dee's tone was a bit excited. "So?"

Ryo dropped the books on the coffee table and sat down next to Dee again. "So I selected three printers in the city that had the widest range of invitation styles. Today we can look through them and hopefully find our stationery."

The smile on Dee's face made Ryo unable to resist kissing him. He made sure they were both comfortable, then they started to look through the books together.

Meanwhile Mother went into the den, sitting in an old, sturdy but comfortable chair to continue knitting the baby blanket she was making in green and yellow.

Bikky and Carol found the adults in the same places when they came in.

Mother paused from her knitting when she heard Carol's squeals of excitement as the two teens joined Dee and Ryo in making a final selection of invitations.

"Mother," Dee's voice called out through the apartment. "We need your opinion."

Mother smiled, putting her knitting in an old tapestry bag and stood up to join her family. From the glee in Dee's voice, it seemed they were close to having the stationery chosen.

After dinner, Bikky and Carol were in Bikky's room, while Dee admitted to needing to take a nap. Mother had just put away the dinner dishes, making Ryo sit on the couch and relax.

She entered the living room to find him with a book open on his lap, but his mind appeared to be elsewhere.

Mother placed the hot drink she held before Ryo's face. "Here."

Ryo blinked, his eyes focusing on it. "What's this?"

"A hot toddy. I figured you could use one."

"Mother," Ryo sighed fondly, taking the offered drink.

Mother sat next to Ryo. "He's going to be fine, darling one. Stop worrying."

Ryo took a sip of his drink and sighed in appreciation. "I haven't had one of these in forever. And yes, I know Dee's definitely getting better. In a few days, he'll be kicking and screaming to get out of here again."

"And?" She started to rub his back soothingly.

"Then I go back to fearing for him," Ryo admitted. "I don't want Dee outside. I feel better knowing he's in here, behind locked doors."

"Ryo, darling, did another…?" She left her question hanging, her eyes meeting Ryo's.

"Yeah. Ted and Marty got the call while I was there. They were still out when I left." He ran his hands through his hair. "Now that I know Dee's okay, I'm glad for the recovery period. It means I have him safe in here. Mother, if there was a way I could keep Dee locked up in here until we catch this bastard…." He paused, wide eyes going to Mother. "Err… sorry," he apologized for his language.

Mother put a comforting arm around Ryo's shoulders and pulled him close until her head rested against his. "My thoughts exactly, sweetie. For what he did to those poor men and for what he's putting my Dee through."

Ryo set the drink down and hugged Mother. "Thank you," he said. "For so many things. But for now, especially for letting me know I'm not alone with this."

"Of course not," she replied, hugging Ryo back. They held each other for a few minutes, both giving and receiving comfort so they could continue to be strong around Dee.

As Ryo pulled away, he stated, "I can't take away all of Dee's freedom. As we found out, that can do him harm too."

Mother nodded as Ryo picked up his drink. "Maybe Dee will come around and make that decision himself soon," she said.

"I hope so." Ryo drank from the cup.

The unspoken thought hung between them. _Before it's too late._

**February 13, 2006**

Dee looked up when he heard the bedroom door open, knowing it was Mother checking in on him. He had also heard the doorbell ring, so he figured another visitor finally found their way,

"Dee?" Mother asked softly.

"I'm up and yes, I'm up to another visitor, Mother." He smiled at Mother as she entered the room.

"If they start wearing you out, you let me know."

"I'm fine," Dee assured her, getting out of the bed.

He had tried to take a nap, but it was not happening. So he was going through the catalogues Diana dropped off earlier that day, getting ideas for the Groomswomen's gowns. Dee's mouth had dropped when he first saw the prices, but Ryo assured him they were okay with it.

Ryo had already contacted the printer first thing in the morning, placing a rush order on the stationery. After hanging up the phone, he emailed a copy of their engagement photo and the list he had typed up the night before of the names and addresses of everyone receiving an announcement card. The printer assured him the cards would be ready and mailed off by Wednesday. Their invitations would be ready by Friday for pick-up, along with printed envelopes for those names checked on the list to receive invitations.

Saturday night, with Dee comfortably in the bed, with his head in Ryo's lap, they had finalized the guest list. The night before, after Dee woke up from his nap, they decided on their theme colors. Elena already had a list of all the flowers they wanted, and she was going to handle the floral arrangements.

Later on Monday, Elena was coming over with Rick to see Dee, and go over some specifics. Diana would be back too so they could discuss the gown selection.

Dee could not believe how once their minds were in the same set again, how smooth making choices were. Even better, true to Ryo's promise, they were still planning their wedding, utilizing the offers to help to do much of the legwork for them. They were more or less planning their wedding from the couch, and it was coming together.

It helped put Dee in a good frame of mind. For the first time he put worries about the Carrier case aside. He was certain come March 11, they were going to have their fairy tale wedding, with every little detail in place.

Ryo's grandmother was amazed when she called just before lunch that day. Ryo relayed the phone conversation later when Dee woke up from a nap for lunch. She added if Dee was feeling up to it by then, she wanted to meet them for tea in Serendipity after work the following week. Dee decided if he was back to work, they would go, since Serendipity was a posh restaurant on East 60th Street that was most known for their ice cream sundaes. He had an appointment on Thursday with Vince and to get more blood work. They were to meet Vince at the hospital Vince was associated with and where the baby would be born.

"Who is it this time?" Dee asked, stretching a little.

"Drake and JJ," Mother replied.

"Well good then. I can go out there in just my jammies and no robe." He smirked playfully at Mother.

"You think you're all that," she said, swatting the back of his head playfully, managing to make it seem nothing like the reach it was for her.

"Ow! Hey!" He walked into the living room. "I must be better. She's hitting me again," he said amused. "Hi Drake. Hi JJ."

Drake shook his head while JJ chuckled. "Gee, Dee must be better. He's all loud again," JJ said.

"If you came here to insult me, then go back out again."

"Oh now, Dee. That wasn't an insult," JJ drawled.

Drake broke out in laughter. "So how are you two doing otherwise?" he asked.

Dee rested his hand on his tummy. "We are doing quite well."

"Good to hear that, Dee," JJ replied. "When Drake and I got back and heard what happened…." JJ shuddered. "I'm glad Ryo thought to call and ease our minds a little."

Dee sat in the easy chair, leaning back. "You're lucky you weren't Ted," he remarked, looking serious.

"No kidding," Drake agreed. "I'm glad you didn't decide to pull that stunt on us. JJ would have had a heart attack."

JJ nodded his head vigorously. He looked over at Dee. "So now you're going to be taking your vitamins and eating what's good for you and the little one?" JJ asked.

Dee glared at JJ. "I had been taking my vitamins and eating what I should be. Ryo made sure to that. They realized that I need different vitamins and I need to eat more iron enriched stuff. Sucks because it's better when you drink orange juice beforehand, but I can barely stomach the stuff." Dee smirked. "It's all good. I like food, doesn't matter if it's healthy or junk."

Drake laughed. "Tell me about it. So you got the okay to eat more? Geez! So long as you understand that doesn't include your cookie and ice cream intake."

"I know that," Dee grumped. He looked up when he heard the locks opening at the front door.

"Mother, Dee, it's me," Ryo called out as he opened the door, then smiled as he noticed the gathering in the living room. "Hey you two. What's up?" he greeted their guests.

Mother brought out drinks and snacks as Ryo took his shoes and coat off. "Oh Ryo. Welcome home. Let me get you something too." She bustled back into the kitchen.

"What are you doing home early?" Dee asked.

"I got there in time to get a signed confession from Jensen. So we did the wrap up and Chief told me to go home and take care of you." Ryo sat down next to Dee and kissed him. "How are you doing this afternoon?"

"I was resting up in bed, going through the catalogues Diana dropped off until Drake and JJ got here. And yes, I did sleep a little right after you left."

"Good." Ryo bent to kiss Dee's belly. "And how's my chibi doing today?"

"We're both doing fine, Papa," Dee replied softly, running his fingers through Ryo's hair.

Ryo sat up, pulling Dee into his arms, hugging him from behind.

"Aw look, how cute they are," JJ commented. "Ryo, I didn't think you could, but this suits you."

"Hell, once I made up my mind that I can and want to display affection to Dee in public, it was easier than I thought." He smiled tenderly, rubbing his cheek against Dee's hair. "But it's Dee. I can't seem to stop myself now."

"Well, I can imagine it might be difficult to hug another man in front of others at first," Drake said. "I mean, you did consider yourself straight until then."

Ryo shrugged. "You mean that I had convinced myself I was," he admitted. "When I had proof otherwise that I ignored. But that's all behind me now. I'm getting married to the most wonderful man in the world, and I want everyone to know that I'm with Dee and we're having a baby together."

Dee seemed to further melt into Ryo's hold, looking happy and content. He turned his head a little to look back at Ryo. "Baby, I was waiting until we were together to show them."

"Oh?" Ryo asked, amused. "I'll bet now you can't wait."

Dee nodded.

"Too bad, because I'm too comfortable to let you go right now."

Dee giggled. Drake and JJ traded amused looks. This was what they were privy to see that was not on display at work, even if Dee and Ryo were obviously lovers from the way they looked at each other, or a slight touch. Yet what Drake and JJ saw at that moment was something different. Even pregnant, Dee still had a reputation at work, and the man cuddled so securely in Ryo's arms was far from that reputation.

Ryo kissed Dee's hair, as Mother set down Ryo's hot drink to go with the shortbread she set out.

Before she had a chance to sit down, Dee asked, "Mother, can we bother you? It's in the frame over on the shelf there."

Mother smiled at Dee. "Of course, darling. I most certain don't mind. It means I get to see it again."

Mother got the frame Ryo gave Dee, with the photo of them in LA, along with one from New Year's Eve and one taken of them in mid-January. Recently added to the collection was the sonogram photo. She gazed lovingly at it.

"Dee, every time I look at all the photos here, I'm filled with so much joy," she said. She handed it to Dee, who had not moved from his comfy place in Ryo's arms.

Ryo smiled over Dee's shoulders, also looking at the frame. "Sweet. I can't wait when it's all filled."

"Neither can I," Dee replied. "Because the final photo to fill all the spaces will be of us holding the baby."

Mother clasped her hands together, smiling. "I cannot wait to see that photo too."

Dee smiled up at his mother. "I know, grandma." He winked at her.

Drake and especially JJ were straining their necks in curiosity. They knew of the frame and had seen it with the photos of Ryo and Dee.

"Let me see the new picture already, Dee," JJ insisted. "We want to see."

Dee handed the frame out toward JJ, who leaned forward to grab it. Both his and Drake's eyes widened.

"What the?" Drake asked.

"Chibi's first picture," Dee replied tenderly.

Ryo had his arms around Dee and his hands now rested on the baby swell. "On Friday, they decided to do an ultrasound on Dee Friday to make sure everything was really all right with the baby. And we got that photo while they were at it."

"That's the baby?" JJ asked.

"No wonder why they wait usually. When you said they warned you if the ultrasound was done too soon, that not much might be made out, you weren't kidding," Drake said. "It looks like a dark splotch."

"That dark spot is the baby," JJ remarked, excitedly. He looked intensely at the photo.

Dee and Ryo laughed. "Vince says we should make out more when we do the second ultrasound around the time he originally planned. That's when I'll be able to win my bet with Ryo," Dee explained.

Ryo rubbed his head against Dee's. "Dee swears we're having a girl."

Drake and JJ looked at the picture again. Dee looked back to smirk at Ryo. Ryo buried his face in Dee's hair, attempting not to laugh at their friends.

"You know, Dee," Drake started. "Looking at this… Ow! JJ, kindly remove your elbow from my ribs please…. Well looking at this," he said, circling the dark area with a finger, "how are you to know which end is which to even pick out which darker area could be hiding some equipment to indicate a boy?

Ryo did laugh then. "Oh, we know which end is up," he replied with a smirk.

Even JJ looked confused. Mother, already fallen for the joke, chuckled fondly. "My boys know their baby very well," she added.

Dee finally sat up to move away from Ryo enough to point at the photo. "Look here, that's her head. Little legs are curled up here. We have a little arm over here and one arm is hiding. And yes, she turned during the ultrasound, so we know she has two arms. They made out enough to know it was another appendage."

"Hmm…." Drake remarked, still trying to make sense of what Dee explained. "Another appendage could mean boy."

Dee snorted. "Well, if what we saw was not an arm, then all I can say to Ryo is, way to go, big man!"

Ryo broke out in laughter. "Aw, now I do wish I was there. But we have another coming up and while Dee insists we're having a girl, we'll find out for certain if that area there," he vaguely indicated with his finger, then laughed as Dee's finger circled it above the photo. "…isn't hiding anything extra."

"I knew it!" Drake crowed. "You owe me, JJ."

"Not yet," JJ stated.

"It's obvious. Dee wants a girl and Ryo wants a boy," Drake said.

"You're half right, Drake," Mother spoke up. "Dee does want a girl, but if that's what Dee wants, then Ryo wants it, too."

Ryo nodded his head. "Yup. I honestly don't care. We're having a baby – our child. That's good enough for me. And if this one turns out to be a boy, well then we'll both still love him. Then in two years or so, I'll see what I can do about giving Dee a daughter."

JJ grinned at Drake. "We're even then."

"Guess so," Drake agreed.

Ryo lightly nudged Dee in his back. Dee leaned back into Ryo's hold, laughing softly.

"I win!" Mother laughed delightedly. "Just wait when I tell Father Patrick that he has dish duty for a month!"

Dee and Ryo exchanged half stunned, half amused looks.

"You're all nuts," Dee exclaimed, laughing. "And I know what you're all thinking. Ryo included."

"Tell us then, Dee," Ryo said. "We want to know what we're thinking."

"That because I want a girl, I'm imagining she's a girl."

"Okay, he has my number," Ryo admitted, with a smirk.

Three other heads nodded in agreement.

"But I'm not," Dee insisted. He reached his hand out toward JJ, who was holding the frame. JJ handed it to him. Dee pointed to the photo. "To be honest, I look at the picture and I can't help feel that's a girl there."

"But?" Mother asked, her own instincts concerning the man that was her son in all ways except blood coming to the surface.

Dee placed his free hand over Ryo's hand which rested on his tummy. "Here, I'm not that sure. It could be a boy." He shrugged.

"Don't look at me," Ryo remarked as amused eyes settled past Dee to Ryo. "I heard this before. Like I said, it makes no difference to me."

"Well, whichever. Make sure you update us when you find out," Drake remarked.

"Why? Planning another betting pool?" Dee asked.

"Ted had first dibs. So he'll be running it, with Janet's help," Drake replied.

"Oh no. Please not Janet," Ryo sighed. "Remember when Sue Horowitz was pregnant and someone made the mistake of putting Janet in charge of the betting pool."

Dee laughed. "That was a fiasco. Nobody won – or at least there was no prize to give the winner."

Mother stood up from her seat. "Dinner will be ready shortly. If Dee is feeling up to your continued company, you two are most welcome to join us for dinner," she said to Drake and JJ.

Ryo smiled. "Say yes. I can keep you company when this one needs to rest up. And don't pout, Dee.

"Damn," Dee muttered.

"Don't curse, Dee," Mother called from the dining room.

"Yes, Mother."

Drake and JJ broke out in laughter. "I think we will stay," Drake decided for the two guests.

Ryo lightly squeezed Dee's hand and pretending to kiss Dee's ear, whispered, "Watch them closely."

"Mm, yeah," Dee replied.

Drake and JJ offered to help Mother in the kitchen, giving both Dee and Ryo a chance to relax in the living room. Ryo had taken the catalogues out from the bedroom and sat down next to Dee on the couch.

"So do we have any idea what we want yet?" Ryo asked.

Dee looked at the book in Ryo's hand. "Yeah. I want to tell Diana to make sure she selects something very nice and in our colors for the women."

Ryo laughed. "Honestly?" When Dee looked at him in question, Ryo continued, "I'm with you on that."

Dee shrugged, and leaning back against the cushions of the couch, said, "I guess we're not that gay, huh?"

"Guess not," Ryo agreed, leaning against Dee. He dropped the catalogues on the coffee table. "If you're all for letting Diana handle the girlie things, I have no complaints."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I think we'd end up with nicer looking women in the wedding party that way. Well, since Elena is coming over, and JJ's here already, we should see if he's willing to stay, since he's in on the planning too."

"Yeah." Ryo looked over toward the dining room. He rested his head against Dee's and talking low, said, "I'm getting this feeling about JJ."

Dee snorted. "He's just all excited over the baby and stuff. He knows he doesn't stand a chance with me, so relax, baby." Dee moved his head to give Ryo a light kiss.

Ryo smiled as they kissed. "That was nice, but that's not what I meant. I mean, now that he knows he doesn't stand a chance, I think he found a new victim to stalk."

Dee's eyes widened. "You're kidding? No, you're not. And someone we know?" Ryo stared at him. "Huh? Oh! Oh no, no way," he laughed.

"Why not?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know," Dee replied.

They both looked up when they heard JJ's voice. "Tea and dessert," he announced carrying a tray in and setting it on the coffee table. "Drake will be joining us for a few and your mother said she'll be in her favorite chair in the den, Dee."

"I'm glad I took it out of storage," Ryo laughed.

"No kidding," Dee agreed. "She really does like that chair."

Drake entered the living room. "Aw, isn't this just adorable. Dee's mother is in the den knitting little baby booties for her grandchild." He smiled at Dee as he sat down on the arm of the chair JJ sat in.

Ryo smirked and nudged Dee. "Not booties," Ryo corrected. "I believe there's 4 pairs of them already. It's a blanket this time."

"Let us know if we're over extending our visit," Drake said, looking down at JJ in warning. JJ merely nodded in silent agreement.

"I'm fine," Dee replied. "As you can see, I'm comfortable and resting up, and relaxed. Besides, Diana and Elena will be dropping by for a little bit soon, so JJ might as well hang around, since he's helping with pulling this wedding together in time."

"Oh, I didn't realize we'd be working on planning tonight," JJ exclaimed. "How exciting. Yes, I'll stay."

"Of course, I'll help anyway I can," Drake said. "But this planning stuff… I'm afraid I'm not good at that."

"That's okay, Drake," Ryo assured him. "We have enough people helping us get ideas for planning this thing. And with you doing some running, that would be great."

"It might get a little boring for you, but you're still welcome to stick around anyway," Dee said to Drake.

"Yeah. I'll stick around. Then I can make sure JJ gets home okay."

JJ playfully slapped Drake's arm. "I can get home on my own just fine, thank you."

Drake laughed. "I know, I know. Anyway how bad can it be planning for a low key wedding?"

JJ rolled his eyes.

"You know, Drake, the chair is much more comfortable than the arm and it does fit two," Dee stated.

Ryo pinched his side and Dee let out a little yelp. Drake and JJ looked over to them.

"What happened?" JJ asked.

"Ryo's getting frisky," Dee replied, glaring at Ryo.

"And you glare at him in response?" Drake asked. "Try again, buddy."

Dee was saved by further reply when the doorbell rang. Ryo stood up to get the door. "Excuse me."

Elena and Rick arrived, the older woman hugging Ryo at the door, then rushing onward into the apartment. Rick entered, shaking his head giving Ryo a quick hug. "Your aunt's crazy, Ryo," he said in greeting.

Ryo laughed. "She wouldn't be her if she wasn't."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it." He chuckled along with Ryo. "How's Dee doing?"

"Much better. He'll probably be back to work by Friday."

"Oh sweetness," they heard Elena exclaimed. "Don't go giving us all a scare like that again."

"Poor Dee," Rick sighed.

Ryo laughed. "Come on in. Where's the kids?"

"At a friend's for the night. We figured Dee didn't need a full house. Even if it looks as if there is one."

Elena was sitting next to Dee, hugging his arm and asking how he was doing, while Drake and JJ looked on amused.

"Rick, you remember Drake and JJ," Ryo said as they came over to the others.

"Yes I do. Nice to see you again," Rick replied.

Drake and JJ stood up to shake hands with Rick. "Same here, sir," JJ replied.

"Rick, please. All that sir stuff makes me feel old."

Rick looked over to Dee and Elena. "How's it going, Dee? You could have tried something less dramatic to take some time off to plan this wedding, you know."

Dee laughed. "I'll try to remember that, Rick. And yes, I'm totally fine."

"He still tires easily, but he's been up more today than the other days," Ryo replied, offering his uncle a chair. He sat down on the other side of Dee. He smirked as he said, "Let me know when my aunt starts wearing you out, Dee. We have an excuse this time."

"Oh you…" Elena remarked, batting a hand across Dee to lightly hit Ryo. "So do you boys have any ideas to show me?"

Dee and Ryo nodded. "Yeah, we do," Dee replied.

Ryo leaned over to pick up the binder they were using to plan their wedding. He opened it up and took some pictures out. "Row bows and special floral arrangements we want for the ceremony," he said, handing Elena the pictures.

JJ leaned over to look. His mouth hung open. "Oh… wow…."

Elena smiled brightly. "Now which one of you saw this first?" she asked.

Ryo laughed. "Dee."

"You see, sweetness, it's not so bad now, is it?"

Dee shook his head. "No ma'am. I'm enjoying myself."

"This is lovely, Dee. And of course, you agree with it, Ryo?"

"We wouldn't be showing you if I didn't," Ryo replied with a smile. "When Dee showed me that for the center aisle I knew he was onto something."

"Do you want the flowers you picked out, or should we add a little something special. Like maybe something that would cascade down a little?"

"Show us what you can get based on this, and we'll let you know," Ryo replied, taking Dee's hand.

"All right then. What else do you have?" Elena asked.

Dee and Ryo showed Elena what they had ideas for in floral arrangements, while JJ and Elena made some additional suggestions. While the four discussed flowers, Rick took Drake into the kitchen, where they sat down and talked about things more familiar and comfortable for them.

Bikky had come out of his room and sat in the den with Mother, talking to her.

Before those in the kitchen were finished with discussions and planning on floral arrangements the door bell rang again. Ryo let Diana in. Once the topic moved onto clothes, Ryo and Dee told Diana what they had agreed on. It was arranged that Diana would come to Dee and Ryo with narrowed down selections to give them an idea of what she was doing, and perhaps even for them to make a final choice. Talks went on to ideas for guest gifts. The engaged couple promised to have some choices by the end of the week, and planned another get together Saturday evening.

Their guests decided to call it a night when Dee started to look tired. Drake, JJ and Diana said their good nights. Rick and Elena stayed a little longer.

As everyone settled down in the living room after the others left, Elena smiled sweetly at Dee and Ryo, picking up her large designer bag.

"What?" Ryo asked, warily.

His aunt removed a folder from her bag, smiling wider. "Look, I didn't sign you up for anything and you don't have to do this. However, I would appreciate it if you both read what's in here, check out the website and perhaps even give her a call tomorrow. I think once you see and hear for yourselves, you're going to go for this."

"What now, Elena?" Ryo sighed, taking the folder that he bold designs along with equally bold colors.

"Dreams To Reality Inc," Dee read, looking on. "Sharon E. Steinberg, wedding coordinator." He looked at Elena with a small frown. "You're suggesting we hand over our wedding to someone else? Elena, we just recently got control back." Dee had a stubborn look on his face.

Ryo started to skim through the inside during Dee's rant. "Hold on, Dee. I say let's see what this woman has to say first before dismissing the idea."

"Ryo…." Dee warned, remembering the last time Ryo went for one of Elena's more elaborate ideas.

"No, Dee. Listen first. According to this, we tell her what we want, and she makes it happen. Meaning we don't have to waste time looking for vendors who will do what we want. She'll suggest, but we can deny it, all of it, if we want. I say let's check out what is on the website and call her first." He leaned over to kiss the side of Dee's mouth. "I'll even let you make the final decision about this once we get all the facts. So quit that frowning, gorgeous."

Dee sighed heavily. "Okay. I'll listen, but that's all I'm promising right now."

"That's good enough." Ryo smiled at his aunt. "Thanks for the suggestion, Elena. I have a good feeling about this."

"We'll see tomorrow," Dee grumped, nervous of once again losing control of what they really wanted for their wedding.

Shortly after, Elena and Rick sat in the kitchen with Mother, while Ryo went to tuck Dee in for bed. When Ryo joined them, in his pajamas and robe, he announced Dee was already asleep. They sat at the dining room table, discussing a variety of topics that ranged from excitement over the wedding and baby, to the Carrier case, to Dee's health, along with some concern over Ryo pushing himself too much. The last topic before Elena and Rick left, so Ryo and Mother could get to sleep was plans for Valentine's Day.

Mother, who was planning on returning to the orphanage the next morning, made Ryo promise she would find out how much Dee enjoyed Ryo's plans before kissing him on his cheek and going into the guest room.

A/N: Sorry sorry sorry…. But I did want to catch up with myself again. With a epic of this size, I wanted to stay at least 10 chapters ahead of myself. Not only does that mean there is something to post, but that gives me leeway to go back and change some things before posting them here. This chapter is an example – an idea came up while writing one of the later chapters, but I realized it was way too late for them to use by then. So, it got incorporated into this chapter, and I'll have to fix a couple of more chapters accordingly to keep it consistent.

For those of you with LiveJournals, there are future chapters up there. But I have to friend you for you to see it. However, they are only drafts, not even edited in most cases, and are subject to change by the time they end up being posted here and a couple of other places. I'm also working on something else on LiveJournal that I hope to catch up on, and make available, if anyone is interested. It is TU related.

To those who "reviewed" by demanding a new chapter – THANK YOU! It made my day! I didn't plan for things to take too long (I'm still about 1 ½ chapters behind my 10 chapter rule, but didn't want to hold off on posting a new chapter longer), so to know that someone feels that strongly about this fic… OH WOW! Again, thank you. And of course, to all the others who reviewed. I hope this fic continues to grab you as it has so far. It helps my Dee and Ryo muses. Oh, and the Chibi, of course!

Okay, time to post this and get back to finishing that other chapter halfway done. Until next time!

Draft25 of 25


	10. Valentine's Day

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 10

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**February 14, 2006**

Ryo peeked cautiously in the bedroom, assured that Dee was really asleep and not just lounging in the bed, and would at any moment get up and walk into the living room.

Dee slept in late that morning. Playing host to their visitors seemed to take more out of him than they all thought the night before. He had woke up twice during the night to use the bathroom. Ryo fell back to sleep shortly after Dee left the bed both times, but found himself waking up again shortly after the second time Dee returned. He sensed Dee sitting in the room and it pulled him from sleep. He found Dee was having a bout of nausea. Ryo went into his routine of making Dee feel better and not long after, they both fell asleep, Dee in Ryo's arms. In the morning, Dee woke up long enough to use the bathroom again before sleeping for a few more hours.

Ryo took advantage of the time, going into the back hallway that Dee hardly went into since he quit smoking. Ryo opened the windows to air it out, removing the ash trays left there for guests. He cleaned up the hallway, wiping down the walls and used air freshener. It would do them no good for Dee to get sick over residual smoke. Drake had used the hallway the night before, and once his uncle went to accompany Drake to smoke his pipe.

When Dee woke up, Ryo thought Dee might be all slept out to take a real nap later in the day. During the day, Dee sat up more, instead of lounging or laying down. His color was returning, and when he spoke, his voice was stronger and clearer than it had been in days.

They had taken the time to look into the wedding coordinator, and Dee had given his consent for them to call. By the time they said their goodbyes to Sharon, they had made an appointment for later that week. They were to bring their binder with ideas and planning with them to hear what she could do for them. It was a no obligation visit. If they did not feel satisfied with the meeting, they could just walk out, no charge. Ryo assured Dee that he would take his cue from Dee. If Dee did not like her or had a good feeling about the services offered, all he had to say was "No thanks," and Ryo would be with him as they walked out the door. They sat on the couch for a while after the call, going over more planning for the wedding, before Dee started to look tired and went into the bedroom to take a nap.

Ryo was glad to see Dee well on his way to looking healthy again. It was a mixed blessing for Ryo, because it meant within a day or two, Dee would no longer be content to stay inside all day. He'll be wanting to go back to work. Dee was already talking about Friday as if he intended to be working. Which, Ryo had to admit, was very likely true.

Every sign Ryo was told to watch for as a warning did not show. It was what Vince had said it was, just a warning that Dee's nutritional values had to be readjusted, and nothing more. Meaning he'd get the clean bill of health come the tests on Thursday. Dee had experienced no dizziness in the last few days, even of the normal type when he went into action too fast, because he had been going into motion slower since he was released from the hospital.

Ryo hated that he could not feel totally happy Dee was going back to his usual healthy self. He cursed the killer still loose and killing pregnant Carriers for putting that fear in Ryo where there should be joy.

He watched Dee sleep for a few minutes. Dee, looking so handsome and beautiful, and even innocent in his sleep. He seemed content and secure. Ryo smiled tenderly before forcing himself to stop wasting minutes. He still had things to do and only had the time Dee slept to do it in.

He closed the door softly and went back to work. Ryo smiled as he heard movement coming from the kitchen. Bikky and Carol had come in from school not long before and were enjoying an afternoon snack. He made a brief stop in the kitchen to check on them, before picking up the box sitting by the front door and going out of the apartment into the back hallway.

Dee walked out of the bedroom, fresh from a shower, dressed in the pajamas Ryo gave him for Christmas. He looked at Ryo sitting on the couch, dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and the cashmere sweater Dee had given him for Christmas, watching television.

With a sigh, Dee sat down next to Ryo, putting his arms around the other man.

"What's wrong?" Ryo asked, turning his attention from the television as he leaned against Dee. It was hard work not to smile, knowing exactly what was wrong.

"I'm sorry," Dee said, resting his chin on Ryo's shoulder.

"For what?" Ryo asked.

I wanted us to have a nice Valentine's Day, dinner out and all that," Dee sighed.

"That's okay, baby. You didn't plan this. I don't mind spending it at home, as long as you're with me."

"No, I didn't plan this, and yes, you're right. We're together." Dee kissed Ryo's ear. "At least I didn't wait until the last minute to get you a gift this year."

Ryo smiled. "We'd have a nice evening anyway. Besides, I love how both flower bouquets arrived at the same time."

Dee laughed. "Yeah, that was good, huh? Thank you for the beautiful calla lilies and teddy bear."

"And thank you for the lovely sunflowers in a new window box."

"Do you want your gift now or later?" Dee asked.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am."

Ryo kissed Dee's nose. "Good. Go get your gift, and I'll get mine. Then we'll see about food."

"Are we having sandwiches?" Dee asked amused, since he did not smell anything cooking yet.

"I'll worry about the food," Ryo assured him. "Now go get the gift."

Dee went back into the bedroom, while Ryo got up and quickly went into Bikky's room.

He smiled at the two teens sitting there. "Okay you two. Give us ten minutes." He winked at them. "And thanks."

"No problem, Ryo," Carol said, giggling excitedly. "I know Dee's going to love it. And you better enjoy yourself too."

"Oh I will," Ryo agreed. "See you in a bit."

"Later, Ryo. We'll stay in here until we hear you leave the apartment."

Ryo winked at Bikky, and rushed back into the living room to find Dee coming out of the bedroom.

"Here, baby," Dee said, holding out a box.

Ryo smiled as he took the box from Dee, before reaching under a cushion on the couch where he sat. He held out a small rectangular flat box tied with a red ribbon. "A little something for my sweetheart," he said, handing it to Dee. "But you have to open my gift first. I promise you, it'll be worth it." He grinned up at Dee.

"If you insist." Dee never had willpower when it came to presents. He pulled off the red ribbon and lifted the cover. "It's a…." He removed the strip of black silk and held it up for closer inspection. "Blindfold." He grinned devilishly.

"Now let me see if it fits over that fat head of yours," Ryo said playfully, taking it from Dee. He moved to stand behind Dee, playfully putting the blindfold on the slightly taller man.

"Ohhh… this is exciting enough that I'll let you get away with the comment about my head," Dee remarked.

"I know you will. How's it feel?" Ryo asked, checking the knot.

"Okay."

"Can you see?"

"No."

"Really, Dee."

"Seriously. I'm totally in the dark. What next?"

"Good." Ryo kissed Dee. "Now, c'mon." Tugging on the hand he held in his, Ryo guided Dee through the living room.

"What are you up to?" Dee asked, grinning.

"You'll see." With his hands on Dee's shoulders, he walked behind Dee, out into the hall and toward the back hallway.

"Okay, I hope you like," Ryo said, positioning Dee in the open doorway to the little hallway. He removed the blindfold from Dee.

Dee opened his eyes and blinked, before his eyes went wide. The hallway was transformed into an intimate restaurant for two. A table just big enough for two was set with red and white linen, fine china and silverware. There was an ice bucket with a bottle of sparkling grape juice waiting for them. The hallway was lit by candles, some in red holders, while others gave off a soft white glow. A string of lights lined the ceiling. A heater was set up and combined with the candles, provided enough warmth to make the hallway comfortable.

Dee gasped, his eyes filling with tears as he felt Ryo's arms wrap around him from behind. Ryo kissed his neck. "Happy Valentine's Day, Dee," Ryo said softly in Dee's ear.

"Oh God, Ryo…. It's beautiful. Oh man… wow…."

"Well you better take your seat, before the waiter comes in with our first course."

"What?" Dee asked as he allowed Ryo to guide him to a chair and seat him. Ryo sat across the table from Dee.

"Since we can't go out tonight, I thought to bring the restaurant to us."

Dee was looking around at the decorating Ryo had done. There were red curtains in the windows, tied back to reveal the city view down and beyond.

"This is amazing," Dee said.

"I had some help," Ryo said with a smile. "Bikky and Carol gave me a hand." Ryo's smile widened, reaching across the table to take Dee's hand. He heard the door to their apartment open and close on the other side of the hallway. At the same time, the seldom used door from the back of their apartment to the hallway opened.

Carol stepped through the door, wearing a red skirt, white blouse, red vest and bow tie. She carried a tray as she walked toward them, smiling and giggling.

"We hope you will enjoy the selections tonight," she said, winking at Ryo. She set a plate with herb salad before Dee, then Ryo, along with two decorative bottles with salad dressing. "Would you like me to pour your drinks?" she asked Ryo.

"No thank you. I can take care of that." Ryo smiled at Carol and winked. "This is great."

Carol giggled again. "First course will be served shortly. Please enjoy your food… and each other." She could not help to giggle more.

"Princess," Dee chuckled. "Thank you, sweetheart."

She leaned down to kiss Dee's cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day, Dee. Enjoy."

"Oh, I will! This is incredible," Dee remarked.

The two men watched as Carol went back into the apartment.

Ryo opened the bottle of grape juice. He poured first into Dee's champagne glass, then his. "Shall we make a toast?" he asked.

Dee lifted his glass, his eyes meeting Ryo's. "I'd like to toast the most wonderful, sweet, kind, loving and handsome man. You make me feel special even with something so simple as a smile meant only for me. I love you, Ryo."

Ryo found himself blushing, but his eyes still steadily met Dee's. "I love you, too, Dee. More than anything. Once again I want to thank you for falling in love with me, for your patience and persistence and not giving up on me – on us. I have everything because I have you." He grinned devilishly. "And we best enjoy the peace of this Valentine's Day, because next year, there will be a sweet baby as part of our family. God Dee…. Thank you for the ultimate gift of love."

It was a wonderful sight to Ryo after the last few days of Dee looking pale, to watch the dark haired man's face flush. Unlike Ryo's earlier blush, Dee's face radiated with warmth, contentment and love.

"Only for you, babe and no one else," Dee replied. "Yes. I do love you this much. Now and always."

Ryo sat up from his seat to lean over across the table. He found Dee meeting him halfway and their lips touched softly, before mouths joined for a kiss.

Ryo felt his knees get weak from the passion flowing through the kiss. Judging from the slight tremor he felt from Dee, his fiancé was having a similar problem.

Ryo broke the kiss, smiling lovingly at Dee. "I think we should be sitting down next time we do this."

Dee nodded as he settled back in his chair, returning Ryo's smile with his own. "Yeah."

They started on their salad, both men unable to stray their eyes long from the other as they ate. A few minutes after they finished their salad, Carol came back out to take their empty plates. The moment she went through the door, Bikky came out dressed similarly to Carol in red pants and vest, white shirt and a red bow tie, to serve them the first course.

Dee grinned upon seeing Bikky. "I hope the help is eating as well as we are," he commented, eyeing the gourmet food on Bikky's tray.

"They would be," Ryo replied for Bikky, "But I told them they could order whatever they wanted."

Dee laughed and Bikky stuck his tongue out at Ryo. "It's bad enough serving this crap." He wrinkled his nose. "No way you're gonna get me to eat it."

Ryo and Dee chuckled at Bikky.

"Well, you look very nice, sport," Dee stated. "I'm sure the lady inside is enjoying it." He winked at Bikky.

The blush on Bikky was visible despite his skin color.

"Hey look he blushes like you, Ryo. In all the same places." Dee smiled at Bikky, who blushed more. "Anyway, thank you."

"For what?" Bikky asked, confused.

"For helping out Ryo with this idea of his. I'm enjoying it very much, probably more than if we did go to some crowded place to eat."

"Aw sheesh, Dee, It's cool. Besides, Ryo helped set up a little something nice while Carol and I ate."

"Good. Well, have fun," Dee stated amused.

"Just remember your dads are out here," Ryo added with a wink.

"Sheesh!"

Ryo and Dee laughed at Bikky, who put their food down and quickly retreated, blushing more. The door closed and the two men went back to their meal. For Dee, Valentine's Day could not have been any more perfect. Ryo was glad he had been able to give Dee a Valentine's Day that they would both remember for a very long time.

Inside the apartment, the two teens had a very nice Valentine's Day, even if Bikky did blush more often than not during their dinner.

**February 16, 2006**

"Dee!" Ryo called toward the bedroom from the dining room. "It's almost time to leave." He waited a few seconds rather than return to the kitchen to finish his coffee.

Dee and Ryo had enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast before they started to get ready for Dee's appointment with Vince over at the hospital. Originally Ryo had Wednesday off, but managed to trade with Marty so he could go with Dee on Thursday. He knew if he asked, he probably could have had Wednesday and Thursday off, making it 3 days including Tuesday, but did not want to push it. He was going to lose as little time as possible and trade off shifts whenever he could as Dee's pregnancy progressed. Like Dee, Ryo just did not want to depend too much on favors or favoritism unless there was no other way.

Dee was looking forward to the appointment, certain he was going to get the clean bill of health from Vince and able to go back to work. The day before, he was feeling much better and more like his old self. Ryo noticed the signs of cabin fever quickly settle in now that Dee was out of the haze of recovery. So it surprised Ryo that Dee was not already dressed and insisting to finally go outside for the first time since Ryo brought him home from the hospital on Saturday.

"Dee?" he called out again when he got no reply, this time walking into the living room. Frowning at the following silence, Ryo hastened to the closed bedroom door to check on Dee.

He walked into a mess. Dee's clothes were strewn over the bed and floor in the vicinity of the closet. He heard movement in the bathroom. "Dee?" he asked, looking past the open door into the bathroom.

Dee was standing before the mirror, wearing one of his button up shirts unbuttoned, his boxers and socks and nothing else. The hardly dressed, distraught man looked one second away from a good cry, if his red puffy eyes were any indication.

It did not take much for Ryo to figure out the problem, but he thought it best to still ask the obvious question and avoid any possible wording Dee could misinterpret. That would not only make the situation worse, it could cause them to miss the appointment.

"Dee?" he asked softly, coming up behind the slightly taller man, looking over Dee's shoulder so his face appeared in the mirror along with Dee's reflection. "What's wrong, love?"

Dee snorted, his eyes going down to the reflection of the very noticeable swell of his midsection.

Ryo reached around Dee and placed his hand on the swell, rubbing gently. "You're going to be late, you know."

"What's the use?" Dee sighed mournfully. "Nothing fits anymore."

"Aw baby," Ryo cooed, pressing himself up against Dee's back, "we knew it was coming. I was hoping to get you to buy some things before then."

"How could this happen in a week?" Dee grumbled.

"Easy, baby. Everything was tight enough last week and you kept grumbling about it getting a little more tighter in the week or two before. You just spent almost a week in nothing but pajamas and sweats." Ryo smiled tenderly. "Our chibi took advantage of it so it won't be so cramped in there."

Dee sighed. "I'm…."

Ryo reached up to kiss Dee's neck, never letting him finish. "Beautiful," he murmured into Dee's neck, before moving his lips up along the strong jawline. "God, you're so damn beautiful."

Dee heard a telling sound as Ryo spoke and studied the dark eyes reflected in the mirror. He found himself smiling, the smile growing as Ryo's lips continued their path along the side of his face, while both hands were reverently rubbing Dee's belly. "Aw baby," Dee sighed happily. He knew Ryo was not lying about how he saw him. He heard it in Ryo's voice, felt it through the lips and hands. Most importantly, he saw it in Ryo's tears of joy. It did not matter what the rest of the world thought. He was beautiful to Ryo. "I'm sorry for being a brat," he found himself apologizing.

"It's okay, love. Now, I know we have clean sweats that will fit comfortably and a tee-shirt and sweater. After the appointment, I'll take you shopping for clothes. Okay, sweetheart?"

"You make it hard to say no."

Ryo stood next to Dee outside the boutique in Soho that was a few blocks from where they lived. Ryo was looking at the display of Carrier clothes in the window. With a smile, he turned to the fidgeting man next to him. "So are you ready to go in there, baby?" he asked, taking Dee's hand in his.

Dee made a face, his eyes trying to avoid the window display before him. "Do we have to go in there?" he whined.

Ryo squeezed Dee's hand gently. "Yes, we do. You need new clothes, love." He moved closer to Dee to gently touch Dee's belly with his free hand. "You don't wanna squeeze our chibi into too tight pants anymore. Right?"

Dee remained quiet as his head turned to stare longingly at a normal men's clothing store a few stores down.

Ryo sighed. The hand on Dee's bump went to his lover's head and made the stubborn man look at him. Ryo smiled gently, then tugged Dee's hand as he took a step toward the door. "Come on, Dee," Ryo said in his no nonsense tone.

Dee sighed loudly and allowed himself to be dragged to the door.

Ryo pulled Dee closer to him and took both hands in his to rub them in a soothing fashion. "I promise when the chibi is born, we're going to buy you all the new normal clothes you like, Dee. Deal?"

Dee's lower lip quivered a little as he replied, "Okay."

Shaking his head fondly, Ryo gently shoved Dee through the door and into the store.

Once inside the door, Dee stepped away from the door and cautiously looked around the store.

Ryo also moved out of the way of the door and stood next to Dee. Like Dee, he was looking around the interior and gaped a little at all the pregnant Carriers buying clothes. He turned and smiled encouragingly at Dee. "See?" he said softly, leaning close to Dee. His hand rubbed Dee's lower back. "You're far from the only one."

Dee was still looking around, also aware of all the men in various stages of pregnancy. "Um… yeah. I guess. But they're not me." Dee looked more than slightly embarrassed.

A very pregnant man came over to them, smiling brightly. Ryo noted the tag on the man's shirt and identified him as a salesman.

"Good day, gentlemen," he cheerfully greeted. "May I be of assistance to you?" His gaze went to Dee.

"Uh," Ryo started. He looked over to Dee, who seemed a bit unsettled by the sudden intrusion. "I think we'd just like to have a look around first…?" he replied to the salesman, still looking at Dee in question.

He saw Dee's visible attempt to shake off some of his discomfort.

Dee nodded to the salesman hesitantly. "Umm… suits?" he asked.

The salesman smiled at Dee. "Of course. Right over there. If you would follow me?" He lead them in the direction where the suits were.

Ryo took Dee's hand and they started to follow the cheerful salesman. To Ryo, it felt more as if the salesman's very pregnant belly was leading them. He stifled a laugh, and looked over at Dee, smiling at him as they walked.

The salesman seemed perfectly at ease with his condition. He was wearing a long beige tunic style shirt that buttoned only halfway down from the top with brown tweed pants.

"Is this your first?" Ryo could not help asking, knowing Dee's attention was more on the salesman than the clothes on racks they passed.

"My third," the salesman replied proudly. He turned his head to look at Dee. "And you?"

"First," Dee stated. "It was a surprise to us."

Ryo smiled as Dee offered to give more information than the initial one word reply he was certain Dee would leave it at.

"My first was a surprise. So was my second. This one was planned," the salesman informed them.

"Oh," was all Dee managed. Dee had hoped that knowing he was a producing Carrier, that after this baby was born, he would be wise enough to prevent any further surprises in the future. If he ever found himself pregnant again, it would be only after a mutual decision between himself and Ryo. A big if, because at that time, Dee saw this as his first and last pregnancy.

"Here we are, gentlemen," the salesman said, stopping before a long rack running the length of the store near the far wall. "These are all our standard to moderately priced suits, and along the wall there are some of the exclusive collection ones. You will notice some familiar designer names over there, as some include a Carrier line, while other designers have made their names with designer brand Carrier clothes. Shirts are two racks over, with more along the back wall there. If you require any further assistance, just give me a wave." He smiled at both men.

Dee nodded, and looked down, appearing to quickly scan the selection.

As the salesman started to leave, he paused next to Ryo. He discreetly pointed to Dee's sweatpants and in a low tone, asked, "Did you have to force him?" The man winked at Ryo.

Ryo smiled, trying not to nod in case Dee should look up.

The salesman winked again before bustling off to another customer. Ryo watched him for a moment. The salesman was younger than Dee, but could not be younger than 25. He had the aura and mannerism which classified him as what one would generally expect a Carrier to be. More like if David, or JJ, were pregnant, as opposed to Dee or Vince. Ryo glanced around the store again, taking in all the men shopping. There was no one type of man to be a Carrier, Ryo noted, judging by the vast variety of men in various stages of pregnancy. Some seemed at ease, others reveling in needing to buy more Carrier clothes and others like Dee, hesitant, almost shyly going through the options of comfortable clothing.

Ryo's attention went back to his lover, who was shyly picking through the suits on the rack, gingerly fingering the material as if he was afraid the item would burn him.

Ryo took a step to stand next to Dee, starting to look over the suits for himself.

"They look nice," Dee mumbled, aware of Ryo joining him.

Ryo rubbed Dee's lower back in a soothing manner, smiling fondly as he watched Dee.

Finally Dee dared to lift a dark blue suit off the rack for a closer inspection. Ryo's smile widened.

The jacket passed Dee's quick look and he went to study the pants. He picked up the band and balked. "Ryo!!!"

"What love?" It was extremely hard to keep all the amusement out of his tone.

Looking absolutely scandalized, Dee held out the top of the pants so Ryo could get a better look. Ryo gazed down at the expected elastic stretchy front panel.

"I'm supposed to wear these?" Dee was beyond skittish into mortified.

"Hm?" Ryo asked, knowing exactly what the problem was. He did not believe Dee was naïve enough to think Carrier pants were any different than maternity ones, considering their purpose. The major difference he noticed was the Velcro fly. It was exactly for that reason Dee had been so hesitant in wearing the clothes. He had been identifying it with wearing women's clothing, something Dee never had any inclination to do, not even for Halloween.

Ryo grabbed onto the waistband of Dee's sweatpants, tugging them a little. "What's the difference to these?" he asked.

"These are supposed to have elastic waistbands. And they don't have that panel in the front that stretches," Dee replied.

Ryo let out a heavy sigh. "Baby…."

"I know, I know. I'm trying here," Dee stated defensively.

"Look, if it's any comfort, pants for Carriers are supposed to stretch around your belly so it will be comfortable. Besides, maternity pants don't have this." He pointed out the Velcro fly to Dee.

Dee plucked at a tag inside the pants, noticing the size. His eyes looked at the size indicated by a marker on the rack, then scanned along the rack at the other sizes. He put the suit back. "Wrong size."

Ryo had been watching Dee and chuckled at the relieved comment.

Dee looked back to Ryo. "What?"

"You are too cute, you know that?" Ryo gushed with a huge grin.

"Ryo…." Dee started to protest.

Ryo hugged Dee and kissed his cheek. "No, seriously. You are," he insisted.

Dee managed a smile at Ryo.

"Now stop frowning like that." Ryo gently rubbed the spot between his lover's eyebrows.

Dee's eyes shifted to the rack. "It's just… weird," he said with a sigh. "It's going to take some time getting used to wearing," he indicated the rack of clothes, "this."

Ryo leaned over to kiss Dee's nose. "I know, baby."

Dee shook his head and sighed dramatically. "I suppose I'm to pick something and try it on, huh?" He gave Ryo a lopsided smile.

Ryo hugged Dee reassuringly. "Baby, you'd look sexy in a potato sack, and these…" he pointed to the collection of clothing, "are a lot nicer than potato sacks. So imagine what you're gonna look like to me. I'll have trouble letting you keep your clothes on." Ryo smiled at the grin Dee was unable to stop. "If you like, I can pick something for you."

"Okay," Dee relented, looking relieved. After a quick glance around, he started over to where his size was. Ryo walked next to him. As Dee came to a stop, Ryo lightly kissed Dee before looking through the suits.

Dee stepped to the side and watched as Ryo went through the suits. Unconsciously, he started to rub his bump. His attention wandered to look over at other areas of the store. It was a medium sized space inside what was formerly an art and antique gallery a few years before with wide arched doorways separating the store into 3 sections. The side they entered from displayed the casual clothes, and the fitting rooms were in the back of the center section. While he did have on his mind to see about a pair of jeans, it was not that clothes that captured Dee's attention.

With much amusement, Dee watched a small man make a major fuss having to wear Carrier clothes. He seemed more pregnant than Dee by about a month. Oddly, the little man reminded Dee of JJ. Not so much in looks, except for the height. It was more JJ's flair for high theatrics. The other man was loudly announcing all his protests to wearing Carrier clothes, although the size of the man's pregnant belly suggested he was long past wearing regular clothes. The majority of the protests were the same Dee had quietly voiced to Ryo, along with a few others he had thought but not yet voiced.

The other man was not so loud yet to distract most of the shoppers, but still had the amused attention of several shoppers near him, Dee noted.

Unfazed by the distraction was Ryo, who was still looking over suits in Dee's size. Ryo removed a mocha colored suit from the rack, eyeing the cut, then looked back at Dee. Coming to a decision, he held up the suit in front of Dee.

"What do you think about this color, Dee?" Ryo asked.

"Nice," Dee agreed, picking up a sleeve. He felt the material, checking that it was not some type of stretchy polyester-like material. He studied the cut of the jacket, wondering what was used to assure it would fit over his expanding abdomen.

"You like?" Ryo asked, smiling at Dee.

Not seeing any visible embarrassing panels, he nodded. "Yes. It's very nice."

"Okay, now a shirt to go with it." Ryo shoved the suit into Dee's hands to hold. He turned and walked over to the display with dress shirts, Dee following, but making sure the other man across the store was still in view. He remained a bit away from Ryo, his attention went back to him as Ryo started to look through the shirts.

"White?" Ryo asked. "Or maybe black? Maybe beige or ivory would be good." He looked behind him for Dee's opinion, expecting his fiancé to be right behind him.

Dee looked back to Ryo, hearing the question. "Dunno," he replied with a shrug. "White for starters, I guess. Just to play it safe."

Dee's attention went back to the man across the store.

"We can get you a couple of shirts, since you can wear that suit more often than a shirt," Ryo replied. "Baby?" he asked, realizing Dee's attention was elsewhere.

"I don't feel bad anymore," Dee said, with a highly amused smirk.

"Why? What's going on?" Ryo asked, now looking to where Dee's attention was.

"Be thankful I'm not acting like him," Dee stated.

"Jesus Christ!" the other customer exclaimed loudly, a look of disgust on his face. "If the majority of pregnant Carriers are gay, then why in the hell are the clothes so wretchedly horrid?!?"

Just about everyone in the store, salesmen and customers, paused in what they were doing to stare at perturbed man. There were some snickers and giggles while others shook their heads and went back to their shopping.

Among the snickers was Dee. "See what I mean?" he asked Ryo, who was also laughing. Dee leaned over to lightly kiss Ryo. "At least you don't have me making a loud protest." He started to laugh again.

"No kidding," Ryo remarked.

"Baby, who does he remind you of?" Dee looked down at the white shirt Ryo had his hand on, picking up the sleeve for closer inspection.

Ryo smirked as he stared at the man across the store, who was still ranting but in a somewhat lower tone. "A very highly dramatic JJ," he replied.

Dee had the shirt off the rack, looking it over, running a hand across the front. He noticed the pleats on the side seams halfway down and the gathered material under them. He frowned at his discovery. "Definitely JJ," he stated, his eyes going to other white shirts, hoping there was a variety of ways for shirts to cover very pregnant male bellies.

"Hell yes," Ryo agreed with a laugh. "And you know? His partner looks just as helpless as Drake when JJ gets like that."

Dee glanced back and noticed the red faced man who appeared to be attempting to hide at the same time as trying to subdue the indignant pregnant man. Dee laughed. "Tell me about it!"

Ryo turned to Dee, noticing his fiancé was holding the white shirt. "So, you wanna try it on?"

Dee's attention was still on the two men on the other side for a moment before he gave Ryo a comical pained expression. "Please don't let that be an omen."

"Huh?" Ryo asked. Sudden understanding drew a grimace to his face. "Oh!" He started to laugh. "Oh God, no!"

Dee was laughing with Ryo. "That's a scary thought. Let's erase it and get this over with already."

"Yes!" Ryo wholeheartedly agreed, still chuckling. "I don't think we're ready for the impending arrival of little JJ's."

Dee looked around and noticed the fitting room entrance at the rear of the store. He took Ryo's hand and started to walk, the suit and shirt in his other hand.

Near the doorway, Dee stopped a few feet from the clerk who checked items going in and out of the fitting rooms.

Ryo grinned at Dee. "Go on." He softly kissed Dee and gave him a gentle shove toward the clerk. "Shoo."

Ryo watched while Dee checked the shirt and shirt, getting a medallion on a string designating the number of items he was going in with, then disappeared.

Dee meekly made his way toward an open door to a stall almost near the back and scooted quickly inside, closing the door behind him. He stood in the stall for a few seconds before shaking his head. He realized he had just dodged around at least 5 other pregnant men. With a rueful grin, he took off his coat and placed it on a hook, then proceeded to take off his clothes to try on the suit and shirt.

Ryo stood off to the side, looking at the clothes on the nearby wall while he waited for Dee. He noticed a couple who went in together. Ryo would have liked to have done that, but until Dee got accustomed to the idea of wearing Carrier clothes, his lover would probably be a bit meek about it. So Ryo waited, noticing two other men waiting. He took note that the clothes before him were part of the more exclusive lines. He was just about to take a closer look when he noticed a woman standing off to the side, appearing to be waiting for someone to come out of the fitting room.

The woman caught his curious glance and smiled at him.

Looking confused, Ryo smiled back. "Brother?" he asked.

She shook her head with a smile. "My husband," she replied. "I can't have children. My husband, he's a Carrier, so…." She shrugged and smiled again at Ryo.

Ryo's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh! Wow!" He smiled at him. "I think that's wonderful," he remarked.

He engaged in a conversation with her, learning how they went for in vitro method. It was costly and the chances of the embryo being accepted was less than it was for a woman, but her and her husband were both willing to try since he was certified that all his equipment was working.

As Ryo talked to the woman, he kept glancing back to the fitting room entrance. The woman said her goodbyes to join a man who left the fitting room with an armful of clothes. She took some of the clothes from him. Ryo smiled as the husband and wife stole a quick kiss in the action. The man, more of a Vince type, put a loving arm around his petite wife as they walked toward the front of the store.

Ryo looked back to the fitting room entrance and still no Dee. He walked up to the clerk, who waved him in with a knowing smile. It was obvious that Dee was far from the first customer who appeared to hide in a changing room.

He looked down the center aisle of the fitting room to find there were ten stalls, five on each side. The back wall was entirely mirrored before an area for several customers to fuss with their perspective purchases a bit before deciding to buy. Several men were taking advantage of it, none of them being Dee. He took notice of four stalls with the doors open, signifying they were not in use. Two seconds later, it was three as a man excused himself to go past Ryo and went into the closest empty stall.

"Dee?" Ryo called out loud enough to be heard over the chatter in the fitting room.

"Here," he heard Dee's voice call from his right. A door opened and he saw a waggle of fingers, the ring finger having the engagement ring he had given Dee.

With a smile, he went over to the door and peeked in. "How you doing in here?" he asked. He smiled, his eyes on Dee's back, dressed in the white shirt and suit pants. Dee appeared to be studying his reflection in the mirror that went down the wall as far as the bench.

Dee turned to look at Ryo, an odd look on his face.

Ryo smiled more, noting how the shirt fit Dee well, yet somehow making the bump seem more noticeable. He also checked Dee's legs. From his quick scan of back and front, he thought the pants fit Dee's legs better than the larger size pants he had been wearing a couple of weeks before. The shirt looked much better on him too, instead of Ryo's uncle's shirts that Dee had taken to wearing. "So?" he asked, knowing already he liked how the clothes looked on Dee.

Dee shrugged uncertainly. "The shirt's fine. Not sure about the pants."

Ryo started to open his mouth to once again remind Dee on the necessity of the elastic panel. He closed his mouth as Dee held up a hand to forestall him.

"Wait. Lemme finish," Dee requested.

Ryo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Hmm?

Dee lifted the shirt to show the waistband going around his midsection. "I'm not sure this will stretch like that thing under it in front," he explained, sounding concerned.

Ryo took a further step in, moving close to Dee. "Maybe this," he tugged at the waistband, "goes higher than… this." He gently rubbed Dee's belly. "You'll probably grow bigger down here, not up there."

Dee leaned into Ryo's touch with a soft contented sigh.

Ryo laughed. "Someone needs a belly rub?" he asked affectionately.

Still holding his shirt up, Dee replied, "Always." He leaned forward for a quick kiss.

Ryo started to tug at the waistband again, pulling it up. He leaned back a bit to check the length of the pants to assure they still hung right. "There. I think they call this style full belly." He smiled at Dee. With his foot, he kicked the door shut, giggling quietly.

Dee looked at Ryo in surprise. "What are you…?"

Ryo put his arms around Dee and pulled him close, then started to kiss him.

No protest came from Dee, not even a token one, as the kiss deepened. Putting his arms around Ryo's neck, he returned the kiss. "Mmm…" he moaned into the kiss.

One of Ryo's hands went back to the swell of Dee's belly, softly rubbing it as he continued to kiss Dee. Ryo pulled his head away slightly to break the kiss. He rubbed his nose against Dee's. "Feeling better?" he asked softly.

Dee smiled as he nodded. "Yeah. Much."

"Well…." Ryo kissed Dee again. "Now, put this on." He pulled away to pick the jacket up, still on the hanger, from the hook. With a soft smile, he kissed Dee's nose before taking the jacket off the hanger.

Dee leaned in for one more kiss as he took the jacket from Ryo. Ryo moved back to give Dee room to put the jacket on, helping him.

Looking in the mirror again, Dee shrugged his shoulders a few times to make sure it was the right fit, checking the sleeve length.

"Looks nice," Ryo remarked. He ran his hands along Dee's arms, giving him the once over. "Very nice."

Dee could not help but smile as he buttoned the jacket. He looked at the mirror, his eyes fixed on the reflection of Ryo's appreciative gaze.

Ryo tugged on his sides. "Room to grow. And there's inner bands to allow more stretching if needed."

Dee looked at himself in the mirror. "So?" he asked Ryo.

Ryo opened the door a little and slipped out of the stall while Dee giggled. Ryo turned to him. "Come on. Let me have a decent look at you." He pulled Dee out by the hand.

Dee left the stall with a bit of flair, as if he was a model showing off the outfit.

Ryo's eyes lit up as he watched Dee, walking backward as they made their way over to the back area. "Ooh! Yum!" he exclaimed.

"Not that bad, I guess," Dee admitted, glancing in the mirror.

"Nice!" Ryo exclaimed.

"Really?"

Ryo vigorously nodded his head. "Oh yes, definitely. Well…" he chuckled, his eyes on Dee's feet. "Except for the Roadrunner socks." He laughed more. "I know, I know. Bikky's Christmas gift."

Dee stuck his tongue out at Ryo. "He did give them to me. Better bad socks than bad ties." He chuckled along with Ryo.

"They're not bad. Just funny."

"Yeah, well, you know what I meant. I'd take socks like these any day over bad ties."

"You, Bikky and the Roadrunner," Ryo said fondly. "At least there's no hole with your big toe sticking out or something." He laughed.

"I can fix that," Dee remarked with a teasing grin. He looked down as he started to wiggle his toes. "Hey well, not too bad yet. I can still see my toes."

Ryo smiled at Dee. "Speaking of ties, want to find one to match this suit, sexy?"

"Why?" Dee asked. "I need Carrier approved ties too?" He started to laugh.

"No!" Ryo feigned an annoyed look. "Silly!" The look left when he started to laugh. "I just thought that a tie in a matching color would be nice." He grinned wickedly at Dee. "If only to impress JJ." He laughed more.

"Now why in the hell would I be wanting to impress JJ?" Dee asked. He smiled lovingly at Ryo. "But if it makes you happy to find a matching tie." He gazed at himself once more in the mirror. He had to admit the suit looked better on him than the ones he had. For one thing, his suit pants did not close anymore. For another, his jackets did not seem to drape well when he buttoned them. Even with the shirt fitting a little loose in the front, it looked sharper than wearing Rick's.

Looking back at Ryo, he picked up on their conversation again. "Besides, the only way to impress JJ is to have your socks, your tie, your suit and your boxers all color coordinated." He faltered a bit as his comment bought to mind something else they needed to buy, but he did not consider until then. He cursed himself when the thought made him start to blush. But damn if he was going to have to wear boxers that had front elastic panels on them.

Ryo's eyebrow shot up. Instead of the expected cooing on how adorable Dee was, Ryo crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Dee with a slight frown. "Oh?" he asked coolly.

Dee looked at Ryo confused. "What?" he asked.

"I don't know. You're the one blushing."

It sounded like an accusation to Dee. Dee only looked more confused, which was how he was feeling.

Ryo seemed to drop his guard a bit, seeing Dee's reaction. "Or are you just having another bout again?"

"It's because boxers reminded me of something," Dee said. In a low voice, he continued, "Of what else we probably should get while we're here."

Ryo nodded, understand what Dee meant. His dark eyes rested on Dee, urging his lover to finish.

"Underwear," Dee muttered. Once again, he looked scandalized. The thought of wearing underwear like the pants did him in.

"Yes," Ryo agreed, smiling. "I understand now, cutiepie."

"Aw geez," Dee groaned. His eyes then lit with sudden understanding. "Oh!" he exclaimed with a chuckle. "You thought…." He started to laugh. "No way I'd check out JJ in his underwear. Baby, how many times do we have to hear it from JJ about his boxers matching his tie?" he asked.

"Hm, yeah. You're right." Ryo looked thoughtful. "You know this one tie he has? The Christmas motif one?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

Ryo stared at Dee. "With the dancing snowmen.." He rubbed his chin, a pained expression on his face.

"Ow… yeah. You're right." Dee laughed.

"'Nuff said." He winked at Dee and laughed too. "Hey, if you want, you can stay here and fuss some more with your new suit. And yes, we're buying it. It looks great on you. You're beautiful, Dee." He smiled lovingly at Dee.

"Well…."

"I'll just grab a couple of more things I think you'll like and then you can pick what you want. Meanwhile you just relax a bit. Okay?"

Dee did not realize it while he was trying on the suit, but it occurred to him then. Ryo had left him to go on his own for a few minutes. His fiancé, who also actively assumed the role of his chief bodyguard, was allowing him to be on his own for a short while again. Dee understood. He felt safer in the store. The most suspicious one he noticed was the excitable JJ-wanna-be. Dee nodded as he gazed at Ryo.

"Okay," he agreed.

"I won't be too long." Ryo gave Dee a quick kiss and left the fitting room.

Dee found himself talking to someone who was full of suggestions and answered Dee's questions about clothes, including the different styles available, depending on how much Dee was willing to spend. He noticed on a wall what appeared to be a community bulletin board for Carriers. Very prominent was a poster that was issued from the 27th's PR department, alerting Carriers about the serial killer and steps to take to ensure safety. He felt satisfied that not only was the NYPD cooperating in hoping the poster would make Carriers stop and think about safety first, making it harder for the killer to target his next victim, but places that attracted large numbers of Carriers posted the warnings.

Listening to talk around him, which covered a variety of topics, including the serial killer, Dee went back to his stall. Before going in, he noted there were still a few unoccupied, so he was not holding someone else up while Ryo went off to pick up more work clothes for him. He took off the jacket to hang up and started to unbutton the shirt when Ryo returned, loaded with various shirts in different colors, another suit and some ties.

Dee's eyes opened wide with surprise. "Holy…." he gasped.

Ryo started to laugh at Dee's face. He set the selected items up in an organized way on the various hooks in the stall.

"Okay…. I see I'll be off to a good start with work clothes," Dee laughed.

Ryo had separated what shirts needed to be tried on from what was the same cut as the shirt Dee already had tried on. All Dee needed to do was pick out one or two of those in different colors. Ryo started a discard hook for rejected items. The first shirt Dee tried on, he did not like how it hung and felt it was too short. Had it been a lesser quality shirt, the length would have been fine to wear at home, but not at work. When Dee took it off, Ryo placed it with the other shirts they were not going to buy.

The second shirt Dee was happy with. It was a better material in an olive color.

Ryo gazed at Dee, also loving how the pregnant man looked in it. He picked up a black suit he had noticed on the designer wall on his way back to the fitting room.

"Here, try this on while you're wearing that shirt. I just figured one better suit would be a good idea." As Dee took the slacks he held out for the other man, Ryo added, "Just don't look at the price tag."

"Ryo," Dee warned. He eyed the pants critically, noting the finer material and to his surprise, a waistband with a zippered fly in the front. "Is it really that expensive?" he asked.

"You do need one really good suit," Ryo stated defensively. "I'm betting the one you have won't fit until after August."

"Still." Dee shrugged. He had already noticed the price tags for the shirts and came up with an rounded figure of how much the shopping trip was going to cost them.

He did not work in the cost of a suit that he was certain cost several hundred dollars. His one finer quality suit he owned had cost him over $300. Carrier clothing seemed to coast at least 25 more than normal clothes. He eyed the first suit he had tried on, knowing it cost $250. He reasoned he would need at least one more suit, maybe two, to wear everyday for work. Unlike the seemingly unlimited money they had for the wedding, buying new clothes for him was coming out of their own pockets and Dee feared it would take away from what they would need for the baby.

"I'm sorry, Ryo," Dee found himself apologizing.

Ryo looked at Dee in confusion. "What are you sorry about?"

Dee gestured to the shirts and the first suit, then lifted the pants he still held. "All this money being spent on a wardrobe for me." He sighed.

Ryo looked positively shocked as he stared at Dee. "Dee!" he exclaimed. "How could you say such a thing?"

When all Dee did was shrug for a reply, Ryo rambled on. "First of all, we can afford it! Secondly, this is not for fun, but because you need it. And third, don't you worry your pretty head over this. You deserve this more than anyone! Now try those pants on!" He leaned over to kiss Dee briefly.

Dee shrugged again and started to put on the pants. "It just seems like a lot of unplanned money when we have Bikky right now and the baby coming."

"Dee," Ryo warned.

Dee sighed as he started to take off the pants he had on, setting the other pants on the bench. "Not that I don't like getting new clothes, but…." He eyed the pants on the bench and then the jacket, still hanging on a rack. "Is it really that expensive?"

"I just said you shouldn't look at the price tag, because I know you'll freak."

Dee nodded. "Yup," he said, as he handed Ryo the pants to the first suit. "It is." He kissed Ryo.

"But it's nicer material and you need a good suit, too."

"Only if you insist," Dee relented, putting on the pants as Ryo hung the other pants up with the jacket. He leaned over to rub his nose against his lover's. "Because you know, I can never resist you."

"Look, who knows," Ryo said, now watching Dee happily zip up the fly, despite his reservations on buying the suit. He smiled knowingly. "It's not like if this is going to waste after the bay is born. I mean…." He looked down. "Who know…." He shrugged.

He felt Dee lift his head with fingers under his chin to look up at him. "Aw baby," Dee sighed. He hugged Ryo to him tenderly. "Don't worry about that now." He kissed him, the kiss lingering longer than the previous ones. "But I love you."

"I'm not worried," Ryo replied, smiling at Dee. "Just thinking ahead."

"Okay," Dee said with a nod. "If it looks good, we'll get it."

Ryo smirked as he pulled away from Dee. "Now select a tie, put on the jacket and wait for me. I'm going to look for a second suit for work. Okay?" He didn't give Dee a chance to reply before he grabbed the shirts they were not buying and was leaving the stall again.

"Don't get lost," Dee replied, shaking his head. He watched as the door closed behind Ryo, leaving him once again on his own.

Once he was fully dressed, including a black silk tie and the jacket buttoned, he fussed with the suit a little, looking in the mirror in the stall. He was trying to find something wrong with the suit, so there would be no reason to buy it. He could not find one. In fact, he loved it. He loved the zipper in the front and that he could tuck his shirt in his pants. The pants came up to the lower portion of his swell, so the shirt did not look so bad tucked in if he chose not to wear the jacket at some point. He briefly wondered if they had belts too.

He decided he wanted a better view and opened the door a little, poking his head out. Once again, he looked around at the other Carriers coming and going in the fitting room. He noticed the little excitable man from earlier being escorted to an empty stall, carrying a pile of clothing, his partner also loaded down with more. Dee bit back a laugh.

Ryo came back into the fitting room with another casual suit in a dark green. He noticed Dee's head sticking out of the door. "So?" he asked, coming to a stop before the door.

Dee smiled at Ryo, then opened the door fully to step out.

Ryo's jaw dropped as he stared at Dee.

Dee raised an eyebrow. "That good?" he asked.

For a reply, Ryo walked up to Dee, and gently pushed him backward into the stall, closing the door behind them. Backing Dee up against a wall, he proceeded to kiss Dee senseless.

Dee's eyes were open wide with surprise, but he happily allowed himself to be kissed by Ryo.

Breaking the kiss with a sigh, Ryo pulled back to give Dee the once over again. "God, Dee…."

Dee remained leaning against the wall, glad Ryo still maintained a hold on him because his legs were trembling from the intensity of the kiss. Taking into account where they were as he was being so passionately kissed, Dee felt more than a slight thrill. He had to take a slow deep breath to keep himself from outright panting while they were in a dressing stall in the fitting room of a clothing boutique. The thought alone of what had just happened was enough to drive Dee near senseless again. "Wow…" was all he managed to utter.

Ryo leaned closer again to nibble on Dee's earlobe. "God, you look good enough to eat," he murmured.

Dee sighed blissfully. "Eat me then," he replied softly.

There had been a wonderful night of romance and passion on Valentine's Day. That was the first time since his collapse they had sex. Ryo had been worried about being a little too rough the next day, and Dee was a little sore from the vigorous workout they had, so the night before, Ryo had put his foot down, deciding they should not take the chance of having sex that night. Dee was just sore enough to allow only cuddling and kissing the night before.

Now, the next day, it did not seem enough. He wanted more of what they had come to enjoy over their years together. He wanted more of what they had done the other night.

Ryo pulled his head back a little and threw Dee a challenging look.

Dee laughed. "Well, we should wait until we get home?" he asked.

Ryo's dark eyes intensely gazed into Dee's. Dee felt hands open first his jacket, then his pants. "You sure?" Ryo asked in a husky tone. He started to kiss Dee's long, graceful neck.

Dee threw his head back. "Ryo…" he sighed. He started to tremble again from what Ryo was doing to him, and from excitement of where it was happening.

Ryo continued to open Dee's shirt, his hands caressing across his belly and then downward back into his pants.

"Jesus," Dee swore softly, closing his eyes. He started to slide down the wall a bit, his legs threatening to stop holding him up. "What you do to me…." He placed his arms around Ryo's neck to help keep him from sinking completely down to the floor.

Ryo placed one arm firmly around Dee to hold him up, while his other hand made long smooth sensual strokes along the curve of Dee's belly and into the pants, stopping just above Dee's aching manhood, then back up again, to repeat the process. Ryo's lips were attached to Dee's neck, kissing and sucking, giving him a nip here and there in a random pattern.

Despite the lack of stimulation on his throbbing erection, Dee felt as if he was going to blow right there anyway if Ryo kept up his sensuous assault on him. Dee was tempted to push Ryo away and to drop to his knees over the bench.

He felt a shift in Ryo's body as the other's mouth started to work it's way to his chest. He knew if he allowed it, Ryo would soon be on his knees before Dee, doing… Dee could only imagine what, being he knew his lover well enough, except it had never happened in such an openly public place.

Ryo's mouth moved to Dee's and hungrily kissed him, his tongue pummeling in the velvety moist mouth, stroking Dee's tongue. Dee realized Ryo was so overcome with pent up passion, he most probably had forgotten where they were. He was so tempted to allow whatever Ryo wanted to happen right then and there. Dee had barely enough sense of mind to realize they needed to get home and quickly. He doubted not even the Commissioner would bail them out of this one if they were caught.

Dee gasped when Ryo broke the kiss, his mouth starting to move downward again, his fingertips now brushing the hair nestled at the base of Dee's erection. "B-baby…" he wheezed, "Ryo? W-we're… in a stall… in a store… public."

Ryo lifted his head to gaze up at Dee, his eyes glazed over with pure passion and need. "So?" he vaguely remarked, moving his head to once again latch onto the smooth flesh of Dee's chest.

Dee's eyes widened, not believing what he heard. Yet the look, Dee knew it well. Knew when Ryo had that look, he was hard to stop. Especially in the last couple of months when need at times included having his way with Dee's body. The need in Ryo's look was one of dominance, wanting Dee to submit to whatever he had in store. Never before Dee had any reason to stop Ryo. He cursed himself for having a reason now. He loved it when Ryo would get into that mood. Dee was still exploring a side to himself he never knew existed until their sexual relationship took a more equal balance.

"You are so…" Ryo murmured into Dee's skin. He nipped the flesh near his teeth, causing Dee to let out a blissful little yelp. "So.." He repeated the action. "So…" Ryo's body shuddered and he pressed himself more against Dee. "God…" His head lifted to once again kiss Dee senseless.

Dee's ears picked up the sounds of the hot, wet kisses and his own moans. "Umm…. N-noise. Making noise? People out there? L-listening… Us a-arrested?" he said, trembling more. He really did not want it to stop.

Ryo stopped kissing him. With his mouth still against Dee's, he whispered, "Spoilsport." He sighed, pulling away from Dee. He let out a shuddering breath.

Dee managed to find his balance and reached out to rub Ryo's back soothingly. "I'm sorry. I wanted it too. I'm doing this for you."

Ryo nodded. "I know. God, I just lost myself there. But you… I find you so damn sexy lately, and we haven't been able to do all that much in the last week. Now this, with you trying on those clothes… And you standing there, in that suit that made things so obvious, yet looking so good on you… you standing there, looking so proud and handsome and beautiful…." Ryo sighed heavily again, still pulling himself together. "Jesus Dee. I'm sorry."

Dee smiled. "I understand. And I'm glad. More than you just telling me…" His smile widened. "You make me feel sexy and beautiful. Now, care to help me change and then give me a hand walking out of here."

Ryo turned to face Dee again, noting the other man still leaned against the wall, still trembling slightly. It was an effort not to pounce Dee again, seeing him with his shirt and pants open, the jacket pushed back, his hips slightly arched out. He wanted to complete the job he finished. He took Dee's hand in his and pulled Dee away from the wall, holding him up in his arms. "I have an idea. How about you tuck yourself all up again in that suit, to save some time, while I take the rest of this stuff to the cashier. I'll take your sweats too, and have them put it in a bag. We'll be out of here faster."

"Well then," Dee said, who was already with the program. He was zipping up his pants, with his shirt tucked in and started to button his shirt.

Ryo smiled, fixing Dee's tie and lightly kissed his cheek. "You trying to say something here?"

Dee nodded, finally moving away from Ryo. He put on his coat, then picked up his sweats and tee shirt.

Ryo kissed Dee deeply again, before pulling back and collecting the items they were going to buy. He started to walk around of the stall, looking back to wink at Dee.

Dee willed his legs to move and followed Ryo out of the stall, pausing while Ryo explained to the fitting room clerk about Dee wanting to wear the suit out. He handed over the medallion while the clerk counted up the items Ryo had in his arms.

"Dee, get that other stuff, please," Ryo said.

"What other stuff?" Dee asked.

The clerk picked up a basket that had packages of tee-shirts and underwear in them.

"Oh?" Dee chuckled, then thanked the clerk to catch up with Ryo, who was already walking across the store toward the check out counter.

As they waited in line, Dee leaned up behind Ryo. He whispered in Ryo's eye, "Good thing you picked a place close to home, huh?"

Ryo shuddered from Dee's breath on his ear, and the body pressed behind him. Impatiently he wanted for the cashier to finish ringing up the purchases of the customer in front of him. He nearly sighed loudly when the cashier started to slowly and carefully fold the clothes and set them in a stylish looking large shopping bag with the boutique's name boldly printed on it. He finished off the touches with some dark red tissue paper to match the main color of the bag. "C'mon," Ryo muttered under his breath.

He reached out behind him and placed his hand on Dee's cheek.

Dee smiled, still getting used to Ryo not only allowing the contact in public, but to return a gesture. He lightly kissed Ryo's ear. "Love you," he whispered.

Ryo found it very difficult to keep his eyes from fluttering close. He turned his head, not caring who saw and happily returned Dee's kiss, pressing his lips firmly against his lover's.

Dee pushed Ryo back a little, trying to catch his breath. "Whoa… w-wow…" Dee stared at Ryo amazed.

Ryo smiled sweetly at Dee. "You asked for it."

"Well, you can't start me up like the way you had and expect me to just forget it. It was painful stopping you, you know."

Ryo laughed for a reply.

"Look, it's our turn," Dee stated, indicating the departing customer.

Ryo went up to the counter, dropping the shirts, suit and ties in a pile. Dee set his load next to the pile, taking the time to arrange them neatly next to the haphazard pile, doing it just for giggles. He did giggle when Ryo gave him a mild glare.

Dee enjoyed watching the impatience play on Ryo's face as the clerk first rang up the items, then separated them to place the shirts and ties in one large shopping back and finished it off with tissue paper, then put the underwear and tee-shirts in another, and the sweats in one more, completing his process, using tissue paper for both. Dee noted with amusement the relief on Ryo's face when the cashier took Ryo's credit card, while another clerk picked up the suits to place in a light plastic suit bag with a zipper. The bag had the same design as the shopping bags. Dee briefly wondered if the clerk was going to try to stuff some of the tissue paper somewhere on the bag. He bit back a laugh as the second clerk handed him the suits to hold. The man then reached into a basket kept on the counter and dropped some small packets into the shopping bag with the underwear.

"It's some skin cream samples for the active Carrier," the man said to Dee while Ryo signed for the purchases. "You have such lovely skin. This will keep it continue to be soft and radiantly glowing during your pregnancy."

Dee raised an eyebrow, but nodded politely to the clerk. "Thanks."

Ryo was grabbing the shopping bags from the counter and holding them in one hand. He slipped his arm around Dee's, starting to guide him out of the store. "Thank you," he called out to the men behind the counter. Dee was finding more amusement at the pace Ryo set, trying so hard not to look like he was wanting to break into a run.

They met up with the pregnant salesclerk near the door. "Oh, it looks as if you found some suits."

"Yes," Ryo said, sounding not too curt.

Dee chuckled. "We'll be back, I'm sure. I didn't have time to look for casual clothes yet. Bye." He laughed as Ryo pulled him out of the store.

The salesman smiled, watching as they left, then looked over to the men behind the counter, who were already helping the next customer in line. They all exchanged knowing looks and smiles.

"Happens all the time during first time buying for happy couples in love," the salesman laughed, amused. Dee reminded him of himself years ago during his first expedition to buy new clothing, still getting used to the changes in his body and the necessity for such shopping. It was the first time he had come into this store, as a customer. After the baby was born and he was ready to go back to work, he found himself applying for a job in that store. He also remembered his own haste with his at the time new husband upon the realization that pregnancy was a very sensual thing between two men in love. He was certain the couple who just left was about to discover a new depth to their physical relationship once they made it home.

Hopefully they'll make it home, the salesman thought amused. It was a wonder they made it out of the fitting room stall when they had.

He smiled, hoping to see them again, wanting to see how the dark haired man further settled with his pregnancy.

Finally, huh? It's not too late for the once a month, is it? Since the last chapter, I spent a couple of days wondering if I'd have to evacuate, hoping that my section of a San Diego suburb was "city" enough. Thankfully they opened a evacuation shelter right on the corner of my street, so I didn't have to load up my car. If I ended up having to do that, I'd have started to drive east and kept going until I hit my native land of NYC. Now that's CITY, and things like the Southern California wildfires make me miss home even more. I just finally unpacked everything that was sitting in my living room ready to go last weekend. That was the second time I went through wildfires all over the place in 3 years, and this one was much worse.

Anyway, enough about me and onto a few comments, then get this finally posted…

First and always – thank you, thank you, thank you! I know I always say this, but it means so much to me to know others are enjoying this fic. I'm not a review whore who will threaten not to post if I don't get reviews, however I have to admit they do help the muses. Happy muses make writing much easier. And it's good to know the characters are staying in character. It's a challenge with this fic, especially with Dee. He'll have his moments, but I hope it all works out in the end that he remains in character.

allyoucaneater – don't be scared of getting married. It's just that I'm a creature of research…lots of it. And limited time to devote to the fic, including both writing and researching. So… as I'm currently writing up the wedding day and thinking I got all my ideas in order and facts straight, I find myself having to stop to do even more researching. Oh joy… that, along with getting home late from work, trying to reorganize an apartment, wildfires… it's taking me more time than I want to get a chapter done.

Hypergirl321 – glad the spoon is down. But in a few chapters along the way, you might want to have the fork ready to have some of Ryo and Dee's wedding cake. ;-) Oh, and creating a LiveJournal account is free. You don't have to post in it and just use the user id to be able to post comments in other journals when logged in, and be able to view "Friends Only" accounts. So if you get one, drop me a line so I can add you to my Friends List.

And yes, there will be more JJ/Drake hints here and there. Not often, but it'll be there and lurking. So let me get this posted and back to getting the wedding written up. See you all in another 3 – 4 weeks!


	11. Welcome To the Jungle

**The Unexpected II**

**Chapter 11**

**Welcome To the Jungle**

**February 17, 2005**

Ryo yawned as he picked up his coffee to take a sip. He was doing Bikky's breakfast dishes after the boy had dashed off to school for before homeroom basketball practice. Once Ryo finished, he planned to set out his and Dee's breakfast.

Ryo was already dressed, although, he was in no hurry to get to work. Being as it was Dee's first day back after his collapse, Chief had told him it would be okay to come in at 9 o'clock, so Dee's day would be shorter. Ryo was allowed to arrive at the same time since Dee was not to travel alone, especially in the precinct area. They were to call in ahead to assure someone would be waiting to meet them at the subway station for the walk to the precinct house. Dee was in the bedroom dressing. Ryo realized that a part of him would not want to be late, especially since it was Dee's first day back and they were already being given slack. He was not in the mood to rush Dee. He was not looking forward to that day. Going out around the area they lived in didn't seem so bad to Ryo, even if his guard was constantly up, and if he did not have his gun he had his sting gun. Something about allowing Dee up near where they worked, and looking at the possibility that they might have to go out together at some point to canvas an area because there was no one else made Ryo nervous. Once again, he found himself fighting the urge to lock Dee away in their apartment and not let him out until the baby was born. Ryo knew it was unreasonable, and Dee was already miserable most of the time from being shut away from the world. He felt guilty to think he actually felt a little glad that Dee had not been feeling well enough the last few days to want to leave the apartment.

In hopes of keeping himself from dwelling too much on things, he busied himself with dishes, breakfast and drinking coffee – perhaps a bit too much coffee, but at the moment Ryo did not care.

Meanwhile, Dee sat on the bed, wearing only a pair of his new boxers. As anxious as he was to be able to get back to work, he still found it difficult to get into gear and finish getting dressed. He knew once he got to work, he'd still feel imprisoned with the restrictions and limitations currently in place. He was still somewhat uncertain about his new clothes, despite Ryo's most positive reaction to them. Of course Ryo would love his new clothes with the meaning behind them. It was everyone else he would encounter on the streets and at work that made him hesitate. There was no hiding in those clothes. It hadn't happen overnight, but to Dee it felt as if it had, as he finally came to the realization that he looked pregnant now. Especially in his new clothes, which were the only clothes, other than some old sweatpants and baggy t-shirts, that still fit him. He knew for the next few months he would continue to look more and more pregnant. With a sigh, he leaned over to put his socks on, finding some small comfort in that he was still able to do it with no difficulty. He knew there would come a time when it would not be so easy. He relished the ability while he still had it. As he sat up, after putting them on, he took a deep breath shaking his head ruefully. He grabbed the new undershirt next to him and placed his free hand on his swell.

"Aw Chibi, Daddy doesn't mean to act like this. I love you and can't wait for when you're here with us. It can't be so great for you to be stuck in there now, huh?"

Dee stood up and smiled at his reflection. "Okay, little one. Daddy's going to try harder to be more positive about his looks, for you." Dee started to put on his undershirt.

Ryo stood on the other side of the partially open door, feeling warm tingles course through his body. He was just about to poke his head in when he had caught Dee speaking to their unborn child. He decided to wait and give Dee the moment, but could not resist listening in.

He waited until Dee was taking his suit pants off the hanger before he opened the door more to stand in the doorway. "Dee, do you want pancakes or eggs?" he asked, smiling lovingly at his husband to be.

Dee looked over to Ryo while holding his pants. Ryo was already dressed, and wearing an apron to protect his work clothes. "I want eggs, but Chibi insists on pancakes, so Chibi wins," he chuckled.

"How about one pancake for Chibi and a little scrambled eggs for you?" Ryo countered.

"Do you want eggs, baby?" Dee questioned Ryo.

"Yeah," Ryo replied, watching Dee put on his pants. "And Biks asked for pancakes, so I have some leftover from his breakfast."

Dee removed the shirt from the hanger. Putting it on, he went over to Ryo, following his lover through the living room to the kitchen. He left his shirt open. "I just don't want you cooking more than needed," he said as they walked toward the kitchen. "But if that's the case, that'll work."

He moved behind Ryo, putting his arms around the other man's waist. He pulled him back and kissed his neck.

Ryo smiled and turned his head, seeking out a kiss. "Mmm, morning gorgeous." He twisted in Dee's hold to bend down and kiss his partner's swollen abdomen. "Morning Chibi."

Dee smiled softly, running his fingers through Ryo's brown hair. Ryo no longer greeted just Dee these days. He would also greet their unborn baby and seemed to derive great pleasure from the action. So much so that Dee decided not to point out that the other man had already said morning to him and the baby when they first woke up before Ryo ushered Dee into the shower for a little fun while they washed up.

Ryo stood up, gazing at Dee. "You need your protein anyway. You lost quite a bit of it between last night and this morning."

Dee laughed. "Well then, bring the eggs on so I can be ready for later tonight.", he winked at Ryo. He hugged Ryo again, then walked into the kitchen. "I'm going to grab some apple juice. Want anything while I'm in there?" he asked, going over to the fridge.

Ryo was already at the stove, and putting on their eggs. "No thanks love."

"Smells good," Dee remarked, pouring juice into a glass. "Can I have a little bit of that bacon too?"

"Of course." Ryo finished cooking the eggs while Dee sat at the breakfast bar. He smirked because he knew Dee thought he was being sneaky with the cookie he snatched from the cookie jar. "Honestly, Dee. If I thought you'd ruin your appetite for the good stuff," he chuckled.

Dee froze in mid-chew, his eyes wide, realizing he was caught. He swallowed the cookie and quickly drank some juice. "This is the good stuff," he defended.

"I mean good, as in healthy and keeping you out of the hospital."

"I know, I know. I do eat healthy stuff. But that cookie was calling for me. In fact, I got it for the chibi. She wanted it. And who am I to deny my baby girl?"

Ryo snorted. "Nice try, Dee. Don't go blaming your bad habits on the baby. And I'll laugh really hard if the next sonogram says it's a boy."

"Aha! So you do want a boy!"

"It doesn't matter, Dee. But as much as I look, I just don't see how you can be so sure that she's a girl. Gah!" Ryo exclaimed at the same time Dee crowed with triumph.

"Yes! You see. You just said she."

"It's your fault, you crazy man."

Dee started to laugh as Ryo shook his head.

Ryo made Dee's plate up with two strips of bacon, a pancake and half of the scrambled eggs from a grill. He did the same to his own plate. As he turned back to Dee, he caught Dee tugging at the bottom of his undershirt. He smirked. The shirt fit Dee fine, but his fiancé was attempting to cover the tiny bit of elastic showing on the front of his pants.

When Ryo first met Dee, he thought there was nothing his partner would be shy about. As time went on and their relationship deepened, Ryo discovered a couple of things, that the only other person who knew was Mother. He also had noticed at times during Dee's chase, that sometimes the otherwise self assured dark haired detective would be so overwhelmed with his feelings for Ryo, he would actually start to blush. Bikky was great in the early days for noticing and bringing his attention to it.

Dee's latest bout of shyness concerned his clothes. Ryo found it adorable. With a loving smile, he set Dee's plate down in front of the other man. "Here you go, beautiful. Best meal of the day and you're eating for two."

Dee looked up and latched onto Ryo for a brief kiss. "Love you, Ryo."

"Love you too, Penguin baby." Ryo sat down next to Dee with his plate, chuckling at Dee's sudden flush.

"Stop it," Dee warned. "We need to go to work soon."

Ryo laughed as he put a hand on Dee's stomach. He leaned over to say, "I love you too, Chibi."

Dee sat back, sighing. "Well, I feel like I'm at the start of a new phase now."

"Hmm?" Ryo kissed Dee's temple before he turned to start eating his breakfast.

Dee indicated his clothes as Ryo glanced at him. "This is it. No more normal clothes until our chibi is born."

"Aw sweetheart, you can still fit into your sweats."

Dee smiled at Ryo. "For now, but not much longer. Then that will be it. Besides, I can't wear sweats to work, no matter how casual I've gotten away with in the past."

Ryo laughed softly. "I'm sure Rose will let it slide. Especially if that's what you're most comfortable in." He couldn't resist lightly kissing Dee's pouting lips. "I'm teasing you. I know the only time you wear sweats at work is like the rest of us for PT."

"You know, speaking of casual, too bad we didn't get a chance to look at jeans before we had to get out of there yesterday."

"You'd probably see a pair of jeans with elastic and go ballistic," Ryo joked. "Like JJ's 'friend' in there."

Dee broke out in laughter, remembering the scene, then snorted. "Please. I wouldn't come close. But ya know, we never really did just look around in there and see what they really have."

Smiling affectionately, Ryo remarked, "That's because someone was playing shy boy, and wanted to get what he needed for a couple of days of work, then dodge the hell out."

"Was I that bad?"

"Yes."

"Shit."

Ryo laughed more. "Maybe we can try again this weekend and get you some casual wear?" Once again Ryo laughed as Dee ducked his head to pour apricot syrup on his pancake. "Shy boy," he teased Dee.

"Shut up."

Ryo laughed harder, hugging Dee. "God, you're too adorable sometimes," he gushed. He kissed Dee's nose and managed to look somewhat serious. "Look Dee, I know this is killing you, and I know that Carrier clothing don't seem stylish, but love, you're going to have to get used to it."

"Well, like I said, if I looked around some, I guess there's some style out there. But I'm afraid it'll also be more expensive than the already expensive boring clothing." Dee shrugged. "I'm just afraid of…." He dropped his head, leaving his sentence hanging.

"Afraid of?" Ryo started to play with Dee's hair, careful not to mess it up. He realized as he encountered hair with mousse styled into place that he had grown used to Dee's hair without any mousse or gel in it.

"Looking like some frumpy housewife or something," Dee mumbled.

Ryo could not help laughing. "Oh Dee, no one is ever going to mistake you for a housewife," he assured Dee.

Dee chuckled a little despite himself. "You know what I mean. I've always liked to look good, even when not dressing up. But now…." He sighed heavily. "I'll get used to it. I have to." He gave Ryo a smile. "I am much more comfortable than I was last Friday when we left for work."

"Baby, you look wonderful." He kissed Dee's forehead, then took Dee's hand to kiss it also, sparkling dark eyes full of love gazing at Dee.

Dee smiled warmly. "Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself." He leaned closer to Ryo to kiss his husband-to-be softly. "It doesn't matter what others think, as long as you still think I'm good looking.

"I'll think you look good when you're old, wrinkly and gray." He winked at Dee, "Of course, I'll be older more wrinkly and grayer."

Dee snorted, amusement lighting his face. "Aw, you'll always be beautiful to me, baby," he chuckled. "Even if between Bikky and the chibi, we'll probably be gray and/or bald sooner than we should." He rubbed his nose against Ryo's.

Ryo giggled, still amazed he actually found someone to talk about growing old with, and ecstatic that it was Dee. He kissed Dee softly, yet full of the love he felt for the other man. "Well, my beautiful love, you should finish eating."

Dee was still smiling as he nodded. "Yeah. Just let me go grab some tea."

He started to get up, but Ryo was already on his feet, gently pushing Dee back in his seat.

"Let me get it for you," Ryo offered.

"Aw Ryo." Dee settled in his seat, looking up at Ryo. Slyly he said, "You need your breakfast too, to put up with my mood swings and stuff. Besides, you lost plenty of protein yourself lately."

Ryo smiled down at Dee and quickly kissed him. "And I am eating too. Now stay put." Ryo went over to the counter where he had a teapot sitting with Dee's peppermint tea and poured some into a mug, adding sugar.

"The way you've been since yesterday afternoon, you probably need two plates," Dee stated with a wink. He went back to eating his breakfast as Ryo laughed.

Ryo placed the tea next to Dee, sitting down to finish his breakfast. "Any good?" he asked of the breakfast.

"Oh definitely. As usual. Thank you, love."

Ryo smiled as he started to rub Dee's back. "Do you feel sick at all?" he asked.

Dee shook his head as he picked up his tea. "Just a little when I first woke up, but it went away for better things." He grinned as he remembered the shower he had with Ryo. "I'm hoping these breaks mean I'll be past this phase soon." He looked down, placing his hand on his tummy. "No more sickness, just more of this here for a while. Right Chibi?"

Ryo smiled sweetly as he went back to his breakfast. Dee followed Ryo's lead and for a few minutes, they ate in comfortable silence.

Suddenly Dee looked at Ryo, an alarmed look on his face. "Ryo, I just thought of something."

"What?"

"That one suit you made me get, the really expensive one? It's really nice and quality and all, but it's hardly something to wear for a wedding like we're planning. What if there's nothing for me to wear on our wedding day?"

"Calm down, Dee." Ryo leaned over to kiss his distraught fiancé. He grinned impishly. "You know, maybe you can wear a kimono or something?" He winked, looking impish. "It'll cover your bump too."

Dee looked thoughtful for a few seconds as if he was considering it. "Not too sure," he replied. "While your family from Japan might find it amusing, not sure what everyone else would think. I mean, we're going all out for a formal wedding, after all." He started to smirk.

"Besides…."

"Well, you are the woman now," Ryo remarked with a chuckle, the look on his face saying he was teasing Dee again. He laughed as Dee's jaw dropped and he had to kiss him again.

"You're been waiting for a chance to say that, huh, you fink. Well, I'd be in denial if I can't say the balance tipped somewhat." Dee finally chuckled at Ryo's comment.

Ryo nodded. "You're my beautiful, gorgeous, handsome, sexy, pregnant husband-to-be. Oh! And you're so adorable too, cutie." Ryo's grin grew wider.

"RYO!"

Ryo started to laugh. "Cute and adorable." Once again he kissed Dee, allowing the kiss to linger a few seconds longer than the previous ones. "We'll take care of something to wear. In fact, I already know you'll be the most handsome groom ever."

"Nah. Close, but you'll be more."

Ryo laughed. "We could keep this up all morning, huh?"

"Agreed," Dee stated with a laugh. "Now, I was about to say that I was thinking of what JJ would say if I told him I'm considering wearing a kimono for my wedding. Could be lots of laughs, ya know."

Ryo chuckled. "I swear you come up with your more outrageous ideas just for the entertainment of watching JJ's face turn different colors."

"Don't forget the twitching eye," Dee laughed.

"Well, you should be glad to know that the chibi had done nothing to your usual sardonic ways," Ryo remarked.

"Hey, got to keep myself amused somehow."

Dee and Ryo looked at each other and laughed.

Ryo started to rub Dee's back again. "Why don't we look into having your suit tailor made?" Ryo suggested.

"In three weeks?!? Baby, last I checked, we're not in Korea. We can't have a custom made suit made within 2 days here."

Ryo made a face. "Hm, there's an idea. We'll take four days off and go to Korea for your suit."

"Ha ha! I'm still debating whether to deal with the two hours to Bermuda or not for our honeymoon. No way I'll survive eleven hours on a plane."

"You did before," Ryo pointed out.

"I wasn't pregnant either," Dee countered.

"Aw, come on, baby. We'll even get you a cumberbund." Ryo winked devilishly.

"Oh? Something to hide the bump? Or knowing you, bring it out more." He hugged Ryo laughing.

"Seriously, Dee, money talks. We talk enough money, you'll have something custom made right here in New York in time to get married."

"Well…." Dee seemed hesitant. "I suppose it would cost a lot."

"As long as you feel comfortable on our wedding day, I don't care what the price is."

"So you keep saying." Dee rolled his eyes.

"It's true."

"I guess. I suppose if I saw the tab for what we already planned, I'd faint."

Ryo kissed his cheek. "You pick what you want and I'll handle the budget. So far we still have lots left. And it is my family's money, not ours. So don't start worrying about it now. If we start going over the budget, I'll let you know."

Dee sighed. "Okay. And no, I'm still not interesting in knowing just how much we have to spend."

"We're not even halfway. Somehow we're not spending as much as some of my cousins have, but according to both Elena and Grandma, this will be the most beautiful wedding in a very long time."

"Yeah? Really? Even your grandmother said that?"

Ryo nodded solemnly, looking slightly proud. "She really hasn't seen much, but she hears from Elena and me how the planning is coming along."

Dee started to grin. "Well, how about that?"

Ryo laughed. "Yeah huh? The most beautiful MacLean wedding is being planned out by Mr. Street Rat Extraordinaire."

Dee joined Ryo in laughter.

Ryo's eyes caught the time on the clock. "Oh! Eat up. We're going to be late!"

"I'm almost done. You finish yours too."

The two men quickly finished their breakfast. Dee was standing while drinking the last of his tea, while Ryo grabbed their plates to set in the sink for later as he realized he did not have the time to do them. He grabbed their travel mugs, filling Dee's with more peppermint tea and his with the last of the coffee in the pot.

Dee had gone into the bedroom to grab his tie and jacket. He came out of the bedroom, noticing Ryo putting on his suit jacket. His hands fumbled with his tie. Ryo shook his head and went over to do the knot for Dee. After a quick kiss, he buttoned Dee's suit jacket. "Yum! You look wonderful Dee. So sexy. And I need to stop because we need to leave right now." Ryo moved away from Dee to get their coats, his shoes already on. Once Dee got his on, he allowed Ryo to help him into his coat, then took the insulated bag that was set near the door. Ryo grabbed the bag with their thermoses and they left the house, hoping the trains were running on time.

"Hey, look who's back!" Marty exclaimed as Ryo and Dee walked into the CI space.

The others looked up as Ryo took Dee's coat and dropped their coats in a nearby empty chair for the moment.

"Yo Dee!" Drake greeted with a smile.

"Hey Dee," Ted said.

"Oh geez, there goes the neighborhood," Marty remarked.

JJ glanced at Dee and smiled. "Welcome back, handsome. And you really are in those new clothes."

Ryo smiled at Dee. "You see?"

Drake smacked JJ in the back of his head. "You would be the one to notice new clothes."

JJ peered up at Drake and smirked. Drake frowned at him.

Everyone's attention was on Dee and missed the exchange. Except for Dee. He took Ryo's hand and squeezed it. To the others, it appeared just as that, but Ryo felt the movement of Dee's fingers and the message it conveyed. Dee warned him to play along.

"So, you really think I'm all that in these clothes, huh?" Dee asked JJ.

"Oh definitely!" JJ exclaimed. "You look handsome and sweet at the same time."

Dee caught what JJ really meant for sweet and actually blushed a little.

"Hey Dee, nice to see some color back in your face," Ted laughed.

Marty laughed. "Oh, JJ made Dee blush."

Ryo chuckled with Ted and Marty. He leaned over to kiss Dee's cheek. "But you do look sweet. Sweet and beautiful and handsome. But I already told you that you'd look good in a potato sack. Isn't that right, JJ?"

JJ nodded his head. "Oh definitely," he answered enthusiastically.

Ted and Marty exchanged confused looks, wondering why Ryo was encouraging JJ, instead of threatening to mess up JJ's pretty face. They turned to Drake in hope of an explanation that would make sense.

Drake was standing up. "I'm going to the roof for a smoke," he announced and left the office.

Ted looked back to Marty, more confused.

"I think I'm going to join him," Marty said. He got up too and started to leave the office. He patted Dee on his shoulder on the way out. "Great to see you back, dude. Later."

Ryo chuckled. "Well, we need to get into our office so I can start setting Dee up with some files to work on," he said to Ted and JJ. "Oh, you have a court date next week, Dee. I have everything you need on your desk."

"Great," Dee sighed. "More long days of paperwork and court hearings. I wanted to come back to work why?"

Ryo laughed. "It'll be fine, Dee."

"Yeah, though not the way you wanted," Ted remarked to Dee, picking up a folder. He got up and walked over to Dee and Ryo. "Another one," he stated to Ryo, handing him the folder.

"Yesterday."

"Where?" Ryo asked.

"In the south end of Morningside Park," Ted replied.

JJ nodded. "Yeah, Drake and I took the scene. The four of us are going to be busy today. So you two have anything else that comes in today."

Ryo sighed. "I hope it's a light day. I know you're feeling fine and Vince okay'd you for full duty, but…."

"I still have certain limitations," Dee agreed. "But, I'm not useless."

"I know you're not, baby. You're still doing your job even if it isn't the way you want."

"I guess I really don't need to tell you Chief said that if you both need to go out for a call, Dee is not to canvas on his own," JJ stated.

"Yeah, yeah, make sure I can grab an armed babysitter and all that," Dee grumped.

"Chief will probably remind you again when you talk to him later," Ted added.

"Yeah, we know. He wants to see us both in his office at 9:30," Ryo stated. "So we better get settled in our office before then."

"We'll all be checking in with you two throughout the day. Maybe asking for you to do some research if you're in and not caught up with something," JJ remarked. He went to get his coat from the coat rack. He put it on, then took Drake's. "Silly boy is up on the roof without his coat," he commented. He started for the door.

"At least Marty grabbed his on the way out. Ready to get our partners and head out?" Ted asked.

"Yeah. Drake needs his coat anyway. He gets sick so quickly," JJ commented. He felt all eyes on him. "With this carrier killer and everything else, we can't afford to be a man down again for a while." He shrugged.

"Good luck out there," Ryo called out. "I hope a good lead comes up soon."

"Yeah. Then maybe Dee can get some freedom back," JJ said. "Oh, by the way, yesterday we managed to find out that four of our six victims were in the precinct area at least a couple of days before their time of deaths."

"And the other two?" Dee asked, appearing in thought. He was doing the math on how many victims he knew, plus the latest and something wasn't adding up to him. From what he knew on the case, this should have been the fifth victim, not the sixth. It did not take him long to figure out that there was a new victim while he was out, and no one bothered to inform him of it.

"Still working on it. We're still waiting for an ID for yesterday's," Ted said. "At least we have an autopsy scheduled for early afternoon."

Dee nodded. "Our friend again?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ted replied. "He told us to call his cell for any new cases, so we do."

Dee frowned. "So when did the fifth happen?"

Ryo put the folder for their latest victim in Dee's hands. "It's on your desk. I just didn't want to bring it up while you were recovering." Ryo gave Dee a guilty look. "Aw hell, Dee. By the time I got home, I didn't want to talk about it myself."

Dee nudged Ryo. "It's okay."

"It's not like I intended to hide it from you. I left a copy of the file on your desk – along with all the other stuff waiting for you to come back," Ryo explained.

"Baby, relax. It's fine. Let's just get to work now."

"Yeah, and let me get this coat to my stupid partner. So help me if he expects me to make chicken soup for him when he gets sick," JJ stated and left with a sigh.

Dee let out a sigh. Earlier that morning he had been hoping for a call or two that he would be able to get out and about. There were a few calls, but Chief Smith determined there wasn't anything Ryo couldn't handle on his own. No gory crime scenes, just a break in that was reported by a frightened neighbor, which led to an investigation of the owner as well as the perp who broke in. Dee was pulling the research while Ryo went out to respond to an attempted rape. The others checked in, relaying information to Dee on the Carrier case.

Jim had stopped by with an ID and evidence from the fifth victim, which as usual was not much for them to go on.

"This one lived in Brooklyn, Dee," Jim informed him.

"What are the chances he was in this vicinity?" Dee asked.

"Favorable. He's a teacher's aid at P.S. 185," Jim replied.

"Crap," Dee muttered.

"Yeah."

"Dammit, Jim. He has to slip one of these days. You're saying there's no fingerprints, no saliva, no…."

"Not even skin under fingernails, stray hair that does not belong to the vics. I've been trying to look at every possible thing. So is our friend the ME. Nothing," Jim finished. "I can tell you there was a struggle until death, but while tied down. For all of the vics."

"Goddammit!"

"I have more in a pattern, but perhaps we should wait for the others?" Jim asked.

"Don't baby me, Jim," Dee snapped. "I'm still a fuckin' detective. And I want that fucker off the streets. I can't help in seeing to that with partial facts."

"You have all the facts in the files, Dee. No one is picking what they choose for you to see for your files," Jim pointed out.

"I can't help but wonder sometimes." Dee dropped his chin in his hand and glared up at Jim.

"Calm down, Dee. Look, why don't I make us some tea and we can sit down to talk. Okay?" Dee shook his head firmly. "I'm perfectly capable of making tea. So why don't I make us some tea and then we talk?"

"Fine, whatever," Jim relented, understanding it was just Dee's frustration talking. "Knock yourself out, Dee. You don't happen to have any Earl Grey, do you."

"I do. JJ likes it once in a while, and since we have the set up, might as well have a little of what everyone likes." Dee shrugged.

"You're such a good host, Dee."

"Don't push," Dee grumbled, standing up. He went to make them tea. Once done, he sat back down at his desk and pulled out a package of oatmeal cookies. Over tea and cookies, Jim filled Dee in on the new facts.

Dee was alone again when he heard JJ and Drake return. Dee got up to stretch before going into the next office.

"Hey dudes," Dee greeted.

Drake sat behind his desk and waved shortly at Dee, then looked down at a file on his desk.

JJ rolled his eyes. "I guess my partner has PMS or something," he explained to Dee.

Dee chuckled. "I never thought straight men got PMS," he commented innocently. The teasing glint in his eyes that looked over at Drake belied the innocence.

Drake looked up and glared at Dee as JJ laughed.

Dee took a step back. "Okay, okay. Sheesh. I guess you do."

JJ patted Dee's back. "Drakey's in a bad mood today. Please don't push it," he warned Dee.

"Fine." Dee let out a heavy sigh. "Is Ted and Marty due back soon?"

"We last heard from them just after we left the ME. They were looking into something and should head back after," Drake replied, sounding coolly professional.

"Aw Dee," JJ tsked, shaking his head, his eyes on Dee.

"What?" Dee asked, looking down at himself. He saw nothing unusual for him. Even the bump slightly billowing out his shirt had become normal for him.

"You looked so sharp in that new suit this morning," JJ admonished. "Not that you don't look hot now, but what happened to your tie? And your jacket's open and your shirt is looking rumpled."

Dee rolled his eyes in response. "Too bad. I'm not dressed for you," he remarked, a bit defensively.

"That's what I say, too, JJ," Drake grumped. "Why don't you just let the rest of us dress how we want, huh?"

JJ giggled at Drake. "There are some of you I lost hope when it comes to fashion. You're one of them, Drakey. So you can wear whatever you like and it's fine with me." He grinned at Drake.

"Yeah, okay." Drake stood up. "I got to use the men's room, then I'm grabbing a smoke. You need me, I'm on the roof."

"I'll go with you," JJ said, walking to go to Drake's side.

"Don't bother. I can piss and smoke without help," Drake snapped.

Dee and JJ watched as Drake stalked out of the office in a snit.

Dee shook his head after the door slammed close behind Drake. "I think he meant to piss and moan," Dee commented to JJ.

JJ laughed at Dee's comment. "He's been in a bad mood today for some reason."

"You don't know why?" Dee asked, studying JJ.

"No. Why should I if he's not saying?" JJ shrugged, looking at Dee confused.

"Because he's your partner. That's why," Dee pointed out. He opened his mouth to say more, but he never got around to the addition when he heard the phone in his office start to ring. He sighed, hoping it was something he could do that was more than just research, but doubted it.

"Let me get that," he ended up saying instead to JJ.

He made his way into the office, and answered the phone, the caller ID already identifying his caller as the Commissioner.

"What can I do for you, Commissioner?" Dee asked. Despite the pleasant way he spoke, he inwardly gritted his teeth.

Whenever Rose called his direct line, it meant either it was time for another heart to heart talk to assure he did not repeat the mistakes Rose's partner had made in the past. Mistakes that turned out to be fatal for both Tyler and his unborn baby. Upon hearing the news of Dee's pregnancy, Rose saw a lot of his late partner in Dee, and made it his business to assure Dee found a balance to still being an active detective while keeping himself and his unborn baby safe. Rose might say Dee was still an active detective, but Dee had more than a few arguments on that.

If it was not time for another talk, then it meant it had something to do with the Carrier case. Being the one stuck in the precinct for the day, Dee was the one who ended up having to compile and research however he could all the information the others obtained while going out on canvasses and interviews. Officially, both Dee and Ryo were off the case, but Rose saw no problem with Dee working actively on it from behind a desk. With that in mind, Dee became the main point of contact for anything pertaining to the case. Mostly because he would be the one who would be there to take any calls. He did what he could with the information until Drake and JJ returned, to hand it to them, being they were the leading detectives on the case. Ryo, unofficially, would go off on his own to hopefully come back with more clues that would lead them to collaring the killer.

"Dee, I need you in my office to start prepping for a press conference," Rose replied, confirming Dee's thoughts.

Better than being called down for another talk with the Commissioner over tea and French pastries, Dee was thankful to be able to do something away from his desk that did not include speaking to loved ones who were next of kin to Carrier victims. That was the official duty for Dee and Ryo, because both Rose and Chief Smith felt the grieving family would feel there was true compassion and understanding from the police by having a pregnant Carrier and his fiancé handle the situation.

"Now?" Dee asked.

"If you can. If not then ASAP," came Rose's reply.

"I'll be there in a few, sir," he replied.

Dee entered the Commissioner's office upon hearing Rose call out for him to enter.

Rose looked up from a stack of paperwork and smiled. "Welcome back, Dee," he greeted. "I trust your day so far is proving you are ready to be back?"

Dee nodded. "Yes sir. It's good to be back."

"Is that a new suit?"

"Umm…yeah," Dee replied, trying hard to not fidget in place. "Ryo took me shopping yesterday after seeing Vince so I could have things to wear to work."

"Oh?" The Commissioner looked amused.

"Well… it seems while I lounged around in my jammies for a week, the baby took advantage and stretched out to take more room. Or so Vince explained when I told him I discovered yesterday morning that nothing fit anymore. I ended up going to the exam in sweatpants."

Rose laughed. "That's one of the first ways it will spring on you. For what it's worth, you look good. I have to admit that pregnancy suits you, Dee."

Rose's eyebrows shot up as he watched Dee blush.

Dee knew he was blushing, and cursed himself. It was the last thing he expected to hear from Rose. He knew he was not being hit on by the Commissioner, who was still attracted to Ryo, but had conceded Ryo belonged with Dee. It was just a compliment, one that Dee knew was a sincere statement of fact.

"Um… thank you, sir," he stammered.

"Why don't you sit down, Dee?" Rose said, gesturing to the chair set by the side of his desk.

"Can I get you something to drink while we wait for our PR rep to join us?"

"Water would be good, sir," Dee replied as he went over to sit in the offered chair.

Rose retrieved a bottle of water from a mini refrigerator he kept in his office, then sat down behind his desk with his own bottled water. He set the bottle to the side and opened a folder that was set before him. "I'm going to let you take this home with you, Dee," he stated. "Study it, because while your statement will be written for you, when we're fielding questions, it would be best you answer as many as you can on your own. Of course, I'll be there also, to step in when needed." He picked up the folder and handed it to Dee to peruse.

"So when is this going to happen?" Dee asked.

"Monday night. That should give you sufficient time to be familiar with the material. There will be times when you will best speak from your heart, and others when you stick to our loose script," Rose explained. He paused as there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called out.

The door opened and middle aged man in a uniform entered the office, carrying a portfolio. "I'm sorry, I'm late, Commissioner. I got tied up at the copy machine getting a few more things that Detective Laytner should find useful." He looked over at Dee. "Detective Laytner, I presume?"

Dee stood and held out his hand to shake. "Yes. That's me."

"Sgt. Michael Carey. I head all the PR issues of an extreme sensitive nature. I've heard much about you, Detective." He grinned at Dee. "In fact, you just might make a press release of your own when you deliver that baby of yours, being as you will be the first active duty Carrier here at the 27th to give birth. Perhaps even a few along the way. You know, just to show we're not prejudiced and you're being treated good and all that fine stuff."

Dee groaned. He also understood where Carey was coming from. "Please, if we can keep this as low key as possible. It's enough getting in front of the press for this, but it has to be done. Otherwise, I want to give birth to a baby, not a celebrity."

Carey chuckled. He handed Dee a folder, then gave one to the Commissioner, keeping one for himself. "Shall we start reviewing the material?" he asked Rose.

"Please do," Rose consented.

The three men settled down to the task of preparing Dee for the press conference.

February 18, 2006

Ryo entered the living room to find Dee sitting on the couch, the TV on and his laptop on his lap. On the couch next to him was a pile of magazines and books. Their wedding planner binder laying close by on the coffee table.

Ryo smiled as Dee looked up from more wedding planning. "That was JJ on the phone," he explained to Dee. "He said he's not feeling very well and has to cancel tonight."

Dee frowned a little. "That's too bad. I hope it's nothing serious."

Ryo settled on the couch next to Dee. "Well, he also said Drake canceled too – something about Drake being damned if he's dragged into a wedding planning party alone."

"In other words, if JJ won't be here, don't expect to find Drake showing up on his own," Dee laughed. His look turned thoughtful. "Come to think of it, things seemed strained between them yesterday."

Ryo had the grace to blush marginally. "Yeah, they did. Well, what makes me laugh is no one bothered to ask why was I pushing how sexy you are so heavily on JJ."

"'Cause JJ fell for it so quickly, no one would suspect Drake getting pissed off over what seems normal for JJ," Dee answered.

Ryo chuckled, shaking his head. "I wonder how far did they've gotten yet?" He gave Dee a meaningful look.

Dee looked up at Ryo amused. "Now, now. You'd be hating it if they asked you that about us," he pointed out.

Ryo laughed as he dropped down on the couch next to Dee. As he put an arm around Dee's shoulders, he said, "Well geez, Dee, all it takes these days is one look at you to get at least half the answer." He laughed more, looking at the shocked look on Dee's face. He leaned over to kiss Dee's nose, smiling. "Anyway, we need to get dinner out of the way before Diana shows up."

"Isn't Elena and Rick coming also?" Dee asked. He set aside the laptop and leaned in for a quick kiss. He stood up from the couch and stretched, his hands on his lower back.

Ryo smiled while looking up at Dee with dark shining eyes.

"What?" Dee asked.

"Despite all the protests of doing more shopping for Carrier clothing, yesterday's spree was worth it. You looked very comfortable today while being dressed in something other than jammies."

Dee shrugged, but as he ducked his head, Ryo caught the start of a smirk.

"And not only are you looking comfortable, you look damn gorgeous, sexy," Ryo added.

"Oh?" Dee asked. The smirk became a knowing smile. "So when do we kick everyone out tonight?"

Ryo laughed. Despite their rather amorous afternoon on Thursday, Dee had gotten them in the mood for more later that night just before they went to sleep for the night. The night before, on Friday, Bikky had gone to Carol's, leaving Ryo to take Dee out for dinner, while they shopped for more new clothing for Dee. When they returned home, they had made love twice, took a nap, then after watching a movie, had yet another round before falling asleep.

Earlier that morning, Ryo woke them up with time for some shower fun before going into work. Since it was a Saturday, both Dee and Ryo had become accustomed to dressing more relaxed when they went into work. Ryo had worn a green cable knit sweater and brown jeans, which he still wore. Dee had put on new olive green cargo pants and a tee shirt under a brown turtleneck sweater. Dressing in layers worked best for Dee, since he had no idea if he'd be sweating in the middle of winter until he was. Like Ryo, he decided to stay in his pants. He was able to roll them down below the swell. The pants had sash belt tied rather than buckled. He took off the sweater when they had arrived home, leaving on his tee-shirt. It was his favorite tee-shirt so far, believing it fit his current situation. It was black and had pictures of a martini glass, a cigarette and sushi, with the "No" slashes across each picture, denoting the 3 NOs of pregnancy – no booze, no smoking and no sushi until the baby was born.

Ryo looked at Dee again. His handsome fiancé did look pregnant in his new clothes. Ryo determined that as far as he was concerned, that made Dee even sexier to him. Once their guests were gone, and teenagers sent to sleep, Ryo planned to once again show Dee just how sexy his pregnant lover was and how he felt about it.

"Well, considering they are having dinner with no kids, no nephews and just the two of them, I'd guess Elena and Rick will be here at some point after Diana arrives," Ryo stated to Dee.

"You know, now that we're going full speed ahead with wedding planning, I can't wait until it's over," Dee said with a smile and chuckle.

Ryo rolled his yes. "Please. We have a ceremony and reception site, we can always go for simple with 300 guests."

Dee gazed at Ryo and their eyes met. "Nah!" they both said at the same time, then laughed.

"At least we know have a wedding coordinator who will just carry out tasks, and not overwhelm us with too many ideas all at once," Dee commented.

Ryo rolled his eyes, looking at the magazines and books, knowing full well there were also bookmarks to other options on Dee's laptop. "We're almost completely set with what we want for the ceremony," Ryo said, sitting back more. "Once you decide on covers for the chairs and we pick an officiate, we're set."

"Oh…right," Dee remarked, smacking his forehead. "We can't get married without an officiate."

"We have a list," Ryo supplied helpfully, going through the assorted papers set next to the binder.

"Yeah. We'll work on that tomorrow. Okay? Now let me go get dinner started." Dee started toward the kitchen. As he reached the threshold to the dining area, he stopped. Looking back to Ryo, he said, "For chair covers, as long as they're mostly blue, it doesn't matter to me what they look like. In fact, I'm all for renting white chairs and adding some ribbons to them as an option."

Ryo smiled as he watched Dee walk into the dining room and out of his sight. "In that case, yell if you need help," he called out. "If not, I'm picking out chair covers." He picked up the laptop Dee left on the couch and found the directory Dee made for rental items. He groaned as he was reminded they still had much to work out for the reception, including the table settings. "Did we really think we'd have everything done by then?" he muttered, fazed by the tasks ahead of them, all of them having to be done soon.

"That must be Diana," Ryo said, standing up as he checked the clock on the DVD player when the doorbell rang.

"Aw, does that mean we have to turn off the movie now?" Bikky asked. "It's getting to the good part and we never saw this one before."

"It's always getting to the good part for you when we have to turn off the TV," Ryo laughed as he crossed the living room to the door.

Dee chuckled as he picked up the remote. "We can go back to it when everyone leaves." He watched as Ryo went to answer the door.

"If you insist," Bikky remarked, slumping back into the couch with a pout.

On the other side of Dee, Carol laughed at Bikky. "I can't wait to see what Diana has for us to wear," she said excitedly.

"Eww… too much, girly stuff. Dee, do I really need to stick around? Can't I go to my room? Carol can stay out here.

Dee opened his mouth to reply, but paused as he heard Ryo and Diana exchange pleasantries, noticing the stunned look on his fiancé's face. As the other man stepped backward to allow their guest in, not just Diana entered. There were other people. Lots of other people. There was a refined looking older woman, who was greeting Ryo. There were three men loaded down with garments bags. There was another man who was as well dressed as the strange woman who was currently greeting Ryo, while the men passed right through to follow Diana and the woman. The man with Ryo looked obviously rich and very gay to Dee. Last to enter were four extremely beautiful women, of the classic beauty that reminded Dee of some of the models he had dated in the past.

Dee knew his mouth was hanging as Diana and the woman stopped before him. Bikky had quickly made a hasty retreat to his room during the sudden flurry of activity, leaving a giggling, suddenly excited Carol still sitting on his other side.

"Madam Chantrel, this is our other darling groom," Diana started to introduce the woman to Dee, "Dee Laytner."

Dee found enough mind to stand up as Mother had taught him long ago, once again too fast, as he found himself fighting off another wave of the usual dizziness. It was over quickly and Dee was thankful as he saw the woman extend a bony hand bedazzled with jewels and gold.

"Dee, this is Madam Chantrel, owner of the most exquisite boutique and will be handling all the outfits for your groomswomen."

Dee took the offered hand and bent slightly to kiss her hand, amazed at all the expensive jewelry on just one hand alone. Dee determined her one arm alone cost more than what they paid for renovating the entire apartment. It boggled his mind. It was not the first time he was met with such riches, but it still had the same effect on him every time. "Pleased to meet you, Madam Chantrel," he greeted politely.

The older woman giggled. "Oh my! But he is a darling one," she exclaimed. "But you sit down, and be comfortable in your condition," she said to Dee.

Ryo came over to them, looking amused, but not surprised at his fiancé. Dee still liked to act the tough street kid, but beneath all the bravado, Ryo knew there was a very well bred boy full of manners that Mother had taught him. When Dee allowed them to show, he could out charm Ryo at his most charming.

"Madam Chantrel," Ryo remarked. "I sent your people to the guest room since they requested a… dressing room?" Ryo said, looking confused.

"I had such a dreadful time narrowing down the selections, because Madam Chantrel has so many delightful things to choose from, " Diana explained as Ryo offered the women a seat after taking off their coats. "So Madam Chantrel was most generous enough to offer you boys a fashion show to help narrow down the choice from twenty-five."

"Twenty-five?!?" Dee gasped. He looked as shocked as he felt.

"Oh my God, a private fashion show!" Carol crowed. "How exciting!"

"And who is this elegant young lady?" Madam Chantrel asked. "You did not mention they had a daughter, Diana."

Dee laughed. "Close. We feel like she is most time, but while she lives with her aunt, we do look out for her. This is Carol, who is part little sister, part daughter and our son's best friend. She's also in our wedding party."

Ryo smiled fondly. "We're hoping one day she'll be our daughter-in-law."

"A betrothal. How charming," Madam Chantrel exclaimed delightedly.

Dee chuckled. "Something like that. May I offer you some coffee or tea? I should warn you that our tea is only decaf, but we have a selection."

"Tea would be wonderful and you can surprise me on what type. Of course, it's decaf, dearie. With you going through the marvelous miracle of giving your intended a baby." She smiled warmly at Dee.

Ryo, Diana and Carol laughed at Dee's sudden inflamed face.

"Um yeah. Let me get your tea on. I could use some too. Diana, want anything?"

"Tea for me, please," Diana replied. "Whatever type you're having, Dee."

"Me too!" Carol added.

"I'll be in there in a moment to give you a hand, Dee," Ryo added.

"Sure." Dee smiled and only Ryo noticed Dee's departure was a retreat.

"He is a charming one," Madam Chantrel stated. "And so are you, Randy. That child will be the most adorable one. You make a very handsome couple."

"Thank you," Ryo remarked, knowing that while it was his turn to blush slightly, the smile on his face was a very proud one."

"I must say, when Diana asked me to provide the gowns for Estelle MacLean's grandson, I could not pass up the chance. Your grandmother and I used to get together for tea back in the day."

Ryo smiled. "Then Grandma should be very pleased to hear you are taking such good care of our groomswomen when we have tea with her next week."

"Do tell her I said hello. It has been a while. Before I continue being so rude, this is my grandson, Marcel." She indicated the young man still in the living room with them. "He has some ideas for suits you might be interested in wearing. Diana told me you boys do not have your wedding outfits picked out yet. Time moves fast when you're planning a wedding and we're already on a bit of a rush while doing things properly. The sooner you and your fiancé are fitted for your garments, the more likely you will not be wearing a suit out of your closet. Especially with Dee. Having his suit custom made perfectly for him will be your best option. And I think you both will be quite pleased with Marcel's selections. If you pick something from him, of course, we will have the suits ready for you for a final fitting the Thursday before your wedding."

"We would be grateful for suggestions and if we do find something we like, with an assurance like yours, of course we would have Marcel handle them," Ryo replied smoothly.

"I should go back there, if you don't mind, to see how everything is coming along," Madam Chantrel said. "I imagine you have other planning to do tonight and do not want to spend the rest of the night looking over gowns."

"Of course, I'll show you to the guest room," Ryo offered as he stood up, holding out a hand to help the older woman to her feet. To Diana, he added, "Then I'll go help Dee out." He managed to give her a "I'll kill you later," look when the older woman was not looking.

"I'll be here, talking to Carol," Diana stated, ignoring Ryo's glare. "I'm sure she will also be helpful with input on what type of gown she would want to wear. Isn't that right, Carol?"

"This is so exciting. I'll bet the gowns are sooo beautiful too. And I'll be wearing one of them," Carol exclaimed.

Ryo escorted the boutique owner out of the living room, unable to not smile at Carol's excitement.

Ryo entered the kitchen, preparing himself. He knew despite Dee's polite and even pleasant demeanor in the living room, there was one hell of a mood swing lurking, most definitely not on the upside.

He noticed Dee at the counter, setting the seldom used fine tea set from Japan onto an equally good quality Japanese lacquer serving tray. He smirked, liking how Dee could bend to a situation, yet keep his own ground. He came behind the tense back of his lover. He gently rubbed Dee's back in a way he knew Dee found soothing. He leaned over to kiss Dee's neck. "You did well in there, baby," Ryo complimented. "Even if I could tell you were just wanting to yell for everyone to get the fuck out of your home."

Dee chuckled. "You know me too well then."

"I feel the same. Diana should have at least warned us."

"She knows if she did, we'd have said no. If she really couldn't narrow down the choices to five, then she could have just bought along photos. Instead…" Dee gestured helplessly. "It's all turning into a fuckin' circus again."

Ryo nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately everyone is here already. So we best just deal with it. I say we go for viewing and look over the pictures tomorrow, cutting it down."

"Photos too? Don't tell me one of those men is a photographer too?" Dee gasped.

Ryo slipped his other arm around Dee's waist, now rubbing his lover's belly. "Elena will be here shortly and she never goes anywhere without a camera. So we ask her to take photos. That way we can get everyone packed up and out sooner.

"I guess." He sighed heavily. "I suppose we should dig around to see if we have anymore scones or some tea biscuits somewhere in a cupboard," he stated in resignation, a little sarcasm in his tone.

Ryo laughed. "We have muffins left over from this morning. They'll be fine, Dee."

"Holy God, I can't believe we're having a private fashion show in this apartment." Dee slapped his forehead.

"Well, there will be one more little thing after that, " Ryo stated.

"Now what?"

"Madam Chantrel has her grandson along to show us some pictures of suits for us. He promises to have them custom tailored for you by the wedding. We might as well take up the offer while we have it. That might save us some running around this week and our time is running short."

"Yeah." Dee sighed again. "This is getting crazy. Jesus, I don't know if I want to rage right now, or laugh myself stupid over the insanity."

"We should have made some things clear to Diana. She acts like one of us so much, I forget she comes from a very high society family. This is how the rich does it for weddings. So, my darling streetrat, welcome to the world of the rich."

Dee rolled his eyes. "Too bad JJ canceled." He chuckled.

"I'm glad he did. He'd have been beside himself with excitement. We already have Carol out there with enough. Then he'd probably have lots of fashion advice to make things go longer. Still…." Ryo grinned. "That would have been amusing too. I can't wait until he finds out what he missed out."

Dee winked. "Nah. Hopefully Drake is worth missing out on a private fashion show in our place."

Ryo laughed. "I hope so too. Hey, the kettle is whistling. You make the tea and I'll get the muffins."

"Deal."

"Right on time," Ryo greeted his aunt and uncle as he opened the door. In a lower tone, he said, "Now settle down quick so we can get this over and done with. However, we need you to take pictures on your digital, Elena."

"Hmm?" Elena asked, reaching up to hug Ryo as if she did not see him earlier for lunch.

"What is all this?" Rick asked, taking off his coat, then helping Elena with hers. His attention was in the living room.

Ryo rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. To his aunt and uncle he stated, "A fashion show to select the women's outfits for the wedding."

"Oh?" Rick asked neutrally. He looked as if he was not sure to bolt while he had the chance, or start laughing at his nephew's predicament. He also knew Ryo was venting while he had the chance, before he went back to playing the good little host. If Ryo was annoyed, Rick surmised, then he had to wonder about Dee. His eyes scanned the room, seeking out Dee. He noticed his almost nephew-in-law sitting on the couch and looking through a leather bound portfolio with some young man Rick would swear he had never seen before, but seemed vaguely familiar to him.

Ryo noticed what his uncle was looking at. "Dee's going through options for his wedding suit with Marcel. We figured to get that over with while we held things up with the gowns," Ryo explained. "And we were holding things up because I decided I was not going to deal with her pouting because she walked in halfway through a private fashion show." Ryo indicated his aunt, mischief twinkling in his dark eyes. "I have enough irritation already tonight, thank you."

"Anymore sass like that, young man, and you could take your own photos," Elena pouted, but both men were able to tell she was teasing. "A private fashion show? Right here in your place? Do tell me how this has come about?' Elena was grinning, obviously enjoying Ryo's discomfort, along with the prospect of looking at a fashion show to determine which gowns will be worn at her nephew's wedding. Everything was starting to go along as she had planned, despite Dee's protests for anything beyond a simple wedding at the beginning.

"Diana," Ryo groaned. "She managed to weed the choices down to only twenty-five and can't seem to weed anything else out. So we're having a fashion show so hopefully Dee and I could decide. Of course any input you might have would be a huge help, I'm certain. This was totally unannounced too. Diana should be lucky this place is clean, bringing all these upscale people here."

Rick laughed. "Diana knows you, son. Of course this place is clean." He lightly touched Elena's arm. "Dearest, isn't that woman one of the biddies your mom used to hang with?"

Elena snorted. "Really Rick. Mother would never 'hang' with anyone. But yes, Claire Chantrel was one of Mother's social acquaintances." She looked to Ryo. "In fact, she had your mom's wedding gown customized by the designer of the original design."

"Oh," Ryo remarked. He had seen enough of his parents' wedding photos. His mother's wedding gown was beaded with pearls and crystals on the bodice with fine thin veins of beading down her skirt. Her glittering train trailing far behind her. He remembered what his grandfather had said about his mother accepting the MacLean wedding fund and was glad of it. He understood then. His mother truly had a fairy princess wedding in her gown, in the garden of an estate manor used for weddings. The garden was decorated in the fashion of a Japanese garden, complete with a bridge going over the small stream that ran through the grounds. The reception was held in the manor itself. His mother had told him about his parents wedding several times, and he knew if she had the chance to do it all over again differently, she wouldn't change a thing. Most important, his parents wedding was a grandiose and elegant wedding without it being too over the top. Ryo realized that was what he wanted for himself, along with giving Dee, who still thought of himself as a street rat, his fairy prince wedding. Thankfully, Dee was open to ideas and what they had planned so far felt like it had the same qualities as his parents' wedding.

"How's Bikky holding up?" Rick asked, bringing Ryo out of his thoughts.

"He locked himself in his room, the first chance he had to escape," Ryo replied and had to smile despite himself.

Elena nodded, then smiled. "Fine. Rick, why don't you get Bikky and take him to an arcade or something for a while? We'll call when it's safe for you to come back."

"I say, yes dear, and I'm on my way. Pronto!" Rick remarked, kissing his wife's cheek. Ryo lead them into the living room. After greetings were made, Rick slipped into Bikky's room and soon after, the two departed from the apartment.

Dee stared wistfully as he waved to his son and watched them go.

"Now that we're all here and settled, shall we start the show?" Diana asked.

"Please," Ryo sighed.

"Very well," Madam Chantrel exclaimed. "I'll get the first gown out for your viewing. Marcel, get the music cued up please. Now just sit back and enjoy everyone."

Ryo sat down next to Dee, who put his arm around him. His dark haired fiancé buried his face in his neck and sighed. "Oh well," he muttered.

"I know, Dee, I know. Diana will pay dearly for this," Ryo whispered in Dee's ear.

"Aw, look at the lovebirds whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears," Elena cooed, smiling at the two men.

Ryo wanted snap out a comeback, but any sound that came out of his mouth was drowned out by the sudden blast of music, as the first model entered the living room.

A/N: Time for thanks to those who helped getting this chapter out. Many thanks to my beta, Dawn, for doing another awesome. And the first scene of this chapter, I got lots of help from Gracie Musica and her Ryo muse. Thanks for putting up with me once again and helping me get through a part I got stuck on.

And of course, thank you all for the reviews. Big smiles on my face, thanks to the reviews. --HUGS-- And I hope I got to everyone who asked about the LJ? If not, poke me (but not with a spork, please… hehehe).

Some quick notes:

The husband and wife angle was not my idea. It was tossed to me by DeeRyoFan, and I was intrigued enough to further toss ideas back and forth with her until we came up with I hope was a plausible way for it to work.

Once I had a good idea of how it worked, I found myself once again thinking of a wonderful sci-fi/detective series from the early 90's called "Alienation". I loved it. My two favorite genres in one – detectives and science fiction. How could I not? It's about two detectives in the LAPD during an AU where beings from another world live on the earth after their ship crashed. The partners are one human and one alien – slashable, except that George, the alien, was married. Eventually his wife got pregnant again and we learn more about that race – at some point during the pregnancy, the fetus is transferred from the mother's body to the father's, who carries the baby to term. I admit I already used some ideas of it to make a Carrier seem workable. Just thought to mention it finally – especially since there is a very pregnant male detective in the series. It's been a while since I saw it (but I have the books based on it). I heard it's out on DVD now – I really need to buy it.

I'm hoping to shape chapter 12 into it's final version this week, and then off to Dawn when I'm done. So… I just might get the next update out sooner than ¾ weeks. We'll see. I once said I like to keep 10 chapters ahead of the one I'm posting. Well… I'm working on chapter 25 now, so I'm ahead of myself. That means good news to those of you who are anxiously awaiting the next update.

For anyone who is reading on my LJ, you are welcome to leave comments on things like something you'd like to see in that chapter, or if you feel something needs to be seriously reworked. Can't say I'll do it, but I will take all suggestions into consideration and see what I can do. And if something needs reworking, better to know then than when updating here.

Okay… shutting up now and posting.


	12. Does History Repeat?

The Unexpected II

Chapter 12

Does History Repeat?

* * *

**February 20, 2006**

The private fashion show turned out to be not as horrible as Dee and Ryo first thought it would be. Everyone had a good time on Saturday night. More importantly, they had eliminated ten gowns by the time the last gown was modeled.

Once everyone but Rick, Elena and Diana were gone, they conferred about the gowns, looking over the pictures Elena downloaded on to Dee's laptop. Both men immediately loved Elena's suggestion that instead of choosing only one style, they should pick a style for each color in their theme. Elena showed some examples on the Internet of wedding parties with different style gowns and/or colors. Dee was all for the idea because he knew he would have a hard time narrowing the selections down to just one. They had a few more days to narrow the choices down to five and then designate a color for each style.

They had an appointment that week to meet with Marcel and try on a few suits. If they made a decision while there, Marcel assured them that, they would also have a first fitting. They already had decided on the suits for the men in their wedding party and had business cards to hand out so their groomsmen could call and make appointments for fittings. It was not very hard for the two lovers to pick out a nice cut Italian suit in black. The men would wear white shirts, with vests and bolero style bow ties in a theme color to match their wedding party partner.

Despite their original chagrin at the start, Ryo and Dee were glad they managed to be charming hosts to their unexpected visitors. They had actually taken care of a few things they were behind on in planning. As a bonus, they managed to have an evening of entertainment. Both men were secure enough in their relationship, that looking was fine. They appreciated enough beauty while watching TV or movies. As long as there was no outright drooling, they were fine with that. Ryo noticed of late, Dee was slowly stopping his noticing, claiming eyes only for Ryo. They still had fun later that night, comparing notes on the models as they cleaned up after, especially commenting on what was real and fake in endowments.

Ryo noted that while Dee tried to be formally polite to the boutique owner, which Ryo found positively endearing, some of his fiancé's street ways came out in his speech or mannerisms throughout the evening. Instead of putting off Madam Chantrel, she found the combo delightfully charming. In fact, overall, she seemed more charmed with Dee than Ryo. Ryo guessed pregnancy probably had something to do with it, but not all.

Taking that into account and knowing his grandmother, Estelle MacLean, Ryo was convinced that Dee's first meeting with her that week would go very well.

Monday started off well, despite Dee's usual grumbling about being escorted by bodyguards and being stuck in the office while everyone else got to go out to do their jobs.

By lunch, everyone in CI had returned from the field and a drawing went on to select which two would go get everyone's lunch. The only name not in the drawing was Dee's. The other guys teased him and Dee teased back with a smirk, exclaiming that someone finally figured out he should be catered to.

Ryo was the only one to notice that the cocky attitude that seemed to be Dee at his best – or worst – was an act. He saw in deep green eyes how Dee wished he was the one to get their lunches and how tired he was of eating in the office when before they would go out for lunch at least once a week, sometimes more. Or stop off on the way back from investigating a case. Ryo was thankful that while it was a Monday, for him and Dee, it was their Friday. At least being away from the precinct, Ryo would be able to take Dee out shopping or dinner. The next day, they were to meet Ryo's grandmother for lunch at Serendipity. Then afterward, Dee had his monthly appointment with Vince.

Ryo could not help feeling the thrill that this would be Dee's 3rd pre-natal check up. Vince had explained that he preferred to keep the pre-natal exams on schedule even if he did see Dee twice that month. There were things he was yet to look at that he did not do at the other exams. Ryo also had his own appointment while Vince did what he termed, "The boring embarrassing parts of the exam."

Ryo had his own embarrassing moments to contend with. He was glad it was one-on-one rather than a group meeting. At least near the end of the last appointment, he felt himself relax and actually started to feel comfortable talking with the specialist assigned to him. Tim was a small petite guy, appearing soft and quiet. Until he opened his mouth. Then he sounded like Dee, perhaps at times worse. By the end of their first meeting, Ryo know the other man was not a bottom and was the dominant one in his marriage. Tim also had an easy going mannerism that Ryo felt comfortable around. If the rest of the meetings were anything like his last one, Ryo was convinced that by the time the baby was born, there would not be much for him to get embarrassed about. Dee had pointed out a few occasions that Ryo did not need his appointments to get over some things, that just knowing there was a baby that they created was enough. Ryo knew Dee was right. They were both changing with this baby, yet oddly enough still remaining more of who they were.

On the other days of the week, they had appointments to be at after work, like fittings and food tastings.

He realized his mind was wondering when everyone but JJ was laughing and he had no idea why. He looked over to JJ, who shrugged.

"We might as well get going," JJ said to him. "Okay everyone, write down your orders and make it quick," he remarked to the others. "Three minutes or we'll leave and you're on your own to get your lunch."

"Aw," Dee pouted, looking up from a menu. "I want the sirloin cheddar bacon burger," he told Ryo. "You know how I like it."

Ryo nodded. "And for a side?"

"I trust you, baby," Dee said with a wink.

Ted and Marty were writing down their orders.

"What about you, Drakey?" JJ asked.

"Uh, hold on…. I'm trying to decide," Drake replied.

"Decide quick," JJ remarked, watching Ryo collect the orders from Ted and Marty.

"You wouldn't dare," Drake stated, scribbling down his order. He paused to stare at the menu. "Nah." He scratched out whatever he had down to start again.

"Drake!" JJ warned.

"I'm still undecided."

"C'mon, dude," Dee snapped. "I've got baby here that's saying there's more than just me getting hungry."

Ryo looked at Dee. "Grab a yogurt to tie you over," he suggested. He shook his head as he noticed Drake cross out his order again.

"I'd love to," Dee replied, "but I'm afraid I ate the last one before you got back. I forgot to call and let you know." He gave Ryo an apologetic smile.

"It's okay, baby. I'll get you some more," Ryo assured him.

"Now that's enough!" JJ snapped, grabbing the paper from Drake, just as once again the other man was going to change his order. Everyone else jumped at the sudden display.

"Whatever is on here is what you get. Let's go, Ryo."

"Jesus, JJ," Drake sighed, while the others laughed.

"Yeah, sure," Ryo replied. He bent over by Dee to quickly kiss the dark haired man. "Be back soon. You too, Chibi."

Drake smirked, knowing that JJ, who was standing in the doorway, would not dare snap at Ryo as the part-Japanese man gave Dee's belly a quick rub.

As Ryo started to walk out of the main CI office, JJ had already charged ahead of him and was waiting at the stairs. Ryo shook his head again in amusement and went to join JJ, leaving the others to go back to work until they returned.

* * *

Ryo sat down in an empty booth to wait for their lunch order to be ready. He glanced up at JJ, who was still standing. "Going to sit?" he asked.

With a shrug, JJ plopped down onto the cushioned blue and gray vinyl seat on the other side of the table from Ryo.

Ryo watched JJ for a moment, as the other man looked at other late lunch patrons. "I hate lunch duty, too." He peered over at JJ, who turned his head to look at Ryo in question. "Especially with Drake's order." He laughed at the face JJ made.

"But this is the easy part once you get him to decide what he wants," JJ remarked.

"I'll bet it would be easier for him if he could be even just a little picky."

"Tell me about it," JJ agreed with a heavy sigh. Once he finished speaking, he went back to his people study.

After nearly a minute went by of watching the back of JJ's head, Ryo had to break the silence. "So what's up with you anyway?" he asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The platinum haired man's attention was back on Ryo.

"The sigh, the silence."

JJ rested his head on his head. "Just tired, I guess. We need a break in this case." He glanced back to the other patrons, before he said low to Ryo, "Ever wonder if he's here? Or she, though I doubt it's a woman."

"Who?"

JJ rolled his eyes. "The one who is driving us to distraction to catch. And giving Drake and I more overtime than we know what to do with."

"Oh!" Ryo nodded. "I guess I tend to do that more when I have Dee with me. But yeah, it would be nice to stop looking over my shoulder, making everyone a suspect. And to be able to let

Dee go off to do his own thing again."

JJ nodded. "At least he prefers to spend most of his time with you. It could be worse, like if you two actually did things separately on a normal routine."

"Yeah, huh?" Ryo replied, realizing that even before the Carrier killer, him and Dee had become practically inseparable. He found himself smiling at the thought.

"So how's the wedding planning going?" JJ asked.

Ryo shook his head with a chuckle. "Scary."

JJ laughed a little. "Getting cold feet already?" he asked.

"Already?!? It's been two months since I asked Dee to marry me. But no. Not cold feet. More like confused at times."

"How so?" JJ's attention was fully on Ryo, looking concerned.

"You see how it's going," Ryo replied, resting his arms on the table. "You knew about the big fight we had over the wedding."

"Yeah. When Dee didn't want all that ritzy stuff you were pushing onto him."

"Exactly." Ryo let out a heavy sigh and chuckled.

"Well, Dee is a street rat at heart," JJ stated. "He said he wouldn't feel comfortable with all the high society pomp."

"Yeah, we worked through that. But at first, I pushed him because I want him to have the wedding he deserves."

"Instead of the wedding he wants." JJ laughed. "Dude. You were trying to turn Dee into a fairy princess."

Ryo looked rueful. "Yeah, I know. I didn't see it like that, but you're right." Ryo snorted, then shook his head. "He's getting the wedding he wants now. That's what's so scary. But JJ, that makes sense now. That was the real reason Dee fought so much. I'll bet he doesn't realize it yet either. I didn't until now. And he kept saying there was something else, but he couldn't put a finger to it."

"What's that?"

"Dee is now the fairy tale prince of his wedding," Ryo replied. "Instead of a princess. So it's all cool now with him."

"Oh!" JJ nodded. "That's how I've felt about it from the start, but I wasn't going to call Dee a princess to his face, even to make a point. Pregnant or no, he'd have wiped the floor using me."

Ryo laughed. "Now it's all making more sense. Thank you, JJ!"

"What do you mean?"

"The other week when you stopped by with Drake, you saw those flowered arches that will be going down the center aisle in the atrium."

"Yeah. So Dee decided he wants to spend lots of money on plenty of flowers."

"It's more than just that, JJ. You know, whatever Dee wants, he can have for our wedding day. We have quite a large budget. It's just, one minute he's saying he's a street rat, the next…" Ryo shrugged, letting his words trail off. "I haven't been complaining, but at times it just didn't make sense to me. We share thoughts and ideas lately and agree. It really is 'our' wedding. We're finally planning together. And Dee is not without whatever he wants."

"So he tells you and you make it happen?" JJ inquired.

"Not exactly. We agree on our final decisions and one of us will contact our wedding coordinator."

JJ's eyes went wide. "Wow! What type of package did you guys sign up for?"

"Full. We just signed the contract on Saturday during lunch. We pick, Sharon makes it happen. Dee adores her, so it's all good. She works with just about every vendor in New York City and even beyond. If she can't find it here, she'll have it shipped for us. Saves us the time finding vendors ourselves."

"And Dee took to having a wedding coordinator right away?" JJ asked, truly curious about the amazing turnaround the wedding seemed to take.

Ryo nodded. "Yup. After hearing Elena explain everything, and then he spoke to Mother, he was willing to listen to Sharon. And he liked what she had to say. We still have so many details to work out, and we'd never make it in time if we didn't sign with her."

"So simple is out, I take it?"

"Definitely," Ryo replied. "Dee's choice too. I mean yesterday, he noticed some photos of a buffet on ice sculptures. So…now we're trying to decide what we want sculpted in ice." Ryo smiled.

JJ laughed. "You're joking me!"

"Dee wants it. Colored lighting with it too!"

"That's… interesting. I guess simple is definitely out."

"Oh, it certainly is. I tell you, push it on Dee and he'll push back twice as hard. Leave him on his own…" Ryo shook his head in amazement. "He's got websites and magazines, and books. He even calls Elena and Mother for suggestions. And he knows Mother is just tickled to pieces that her son is getting a wedding in the style much like in her family. And JJ… I know Dee can organize with the best of us if he puts his mind and the time to it, but oh my God! I never realized just how organized and anal he could be until I saw the wedding organizer he created for us on his laptop. And our wedding website should be done and online this week. Dee's doing that himself too."

JJ's eyes were wide. "Oh… My…GAWD!" he exclaimed. "Dee has become Bridezilla!"

Ryo's mouth dropped open at JJ's proclamation, then laughed as he realized how close to the truth it was. "God, don't ever say that to Dee's face."

"Oh heck no!" JJ laughed.

"But yeah, so much for simple," Ryo remarked. "I'm not complaining. It's just…." He shrugged helplessly. "I was trying to figure out where the change happened."

"Do you really want to know? Or need to know?" JJ asked with a shrug of his own. "I'd say just go for whatever he wants, unless it's something you totally despise. But seeing how nice you two redid the apartment, I guess your tastes are not so much different then we all expected."

Ryo let out a heavy sigh. "It all comes down to that I originally went about it the wrong way, I guess."

"Well, yeah."

"It's not what I want at all," Ryo explained. "I just wanted Dee to have the wedding of his dreams. Dee was most likely dreaming about us getting married back when I was still unable to accept that I was in love with him. He deserves it. I just happen to have the money to give him whatever he wants. I guess I got carried away there for a bit."

"Look, you like being in control of things. We all do. So why assume that suddenly Dee doesn't anymore, just because he's pregnant."

Ryo shook his head. "Believe me, I'm not assuming that at all. You ask me, ever since he got pregnant, he's been wanting to be more in control of things than usual for Dee. But you know what worries me the most with the wedding planning? Mood swings."

JJ giggled at the face Ryo made as he said the last two words.

"I mean, what if he's in this mood right now that he wants extravagant for some things, and then the day before the wedding he doesn't?"

"Well, try to stay flexible, I guess. Ice sculptures can be taken away or replaced by small tables or whatever. Getting them because Dee suddenly decides he wants them the day before would be the tricky part."

Ryo shook his head. "Did you hear what I said earlier, JJ? This isn't a do it yourself wedding here. We're signing contracts. That means no more or no less than what we signed the dotted lines for. We can't just take out tables and replace them at Bridgewaters. It's costing us a fortune already for them to allow outside catering and event planners to do the design. I would think coming from your background, you wouldn't know what a homemade wedding is. I can tell you, this one is far from that. So whatever we sign the contracts for, is exactly what we'll find when we walk in at the time we're supposed to on our wedding day."

JJ raised his hands defensively. "Sorry. I keep thinking it's Dee's wedding, so forgive me if I forget that it's being done professionally."

Ryo laughed a little. "Yeah, I know. And it is Dee's wedding so far. Mine too, because I like everything Dee is choosing. And I did show Dee a few things that he decided he wanted too. Speaking of professionals, it's too bad you had to cancel out on Saturday night, JJ. Oh my God, I thought Dee was going to have heart failure once he figured out what was going on when Diana arrived."

"Why? Did she bring plaid dresses for the wedding?" He winked in amusement.

Ryo laughed. "No. If only it was that simple. You heard us when we asked her to bring a narrowed down selection, like maybe five gowns for us to choose from. We were thinking she'd show up with pictures." Ryo leaned on the table again. "Well, she shows up with a boutique owner, who just happened to be the same woman who did my mother's wedding gown, meaning she has affiliations to the MacLeans. They also had about 25 gowns, and an entourage including models to show them off to us, make-up artists, the whole deal. Right there in our living room. And our guest room was the dressing room.

JJ's jaw dropped, then a slow grin spread, until he burst out in laughter. "Oh my! I'll bet Dee was not the only one. Aw, too bad I was stuck at home with that 24 hour bug. Please tell me you took pictures."

"We had Elena take them to help us in making the final selection. We did narrow it down some Saturday night."

"Oh, may I see them?" JJ asked with pleading eyes.

"I don't have them on me, but we have them back at the office."

"Good! I want to see!"

Ryo chuckled. "We're keeping price tags away from Dee. He already has this idea that they are expensive, but I'm not letting him know exactly how much. And, just like with the rest of the wedding, he doesn't want to know."

JJ laughed more.

"It's a damn shame that one gown is going to cost more than our tuxes together. And those are quite expensive too. High end Italian designer for us. We're yet to decide on what exactly, but Dee and I already have made our selections to try on this week. Then we'll make our final selections."

"Ohh.. Italian tuxes. I'll bet you and Dee will look very sharp on your wedding day."

"Italian for you too. Dee and I already picked out our groomsmen's tuxes. Which by the way," Ryo remarked. He paused to pull out his wallet and take out a business card to hand to JJ. "Here. I forgot we need to give these out to you guys. Give a call to set up when will be a good time for your first fitting."

JJ looked at the name on the card. "Marcel Chantrel," he read aloud. "French?"

Ryo nodded. "Yup. His grandmother is the woman who will be handling the groomswomen's gowns."

"Does Dee have at least a slight idea of how deep he got himself?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, he does. But he doesn't want to think about it. I'm afraid he'll start having anxiety if he does. Even if we can afford it all." Ryo watched as JJ tucked the card away in a safe place. "Dee's tux is going to be the most expensive. It's being custom made to work with that lovely swell of his." Ryo smiled tenderly. "And yet, it still doesn't match up to the price of one gown."

"Aww. I'll bet he'll look dashing no matter what."

Ryo nodded in agreement. "Yup. That he will."

JJ looked over at the counter and sighed. "Aren't they done yet?"

"Nah," Ryo remarked, deadpan. "They're still making Drake's." He winked in amusement when JJ looked back at him. After JJ snorted in response, he added, "And Dee's, of course."

"Dee's eating for two though. So that's okay."

Ryo smirked. "Yeah, it is. But it still takes a while to make." He laughed.

"You know though, Ryo, I'd take dealing with jokes about how much I eat if it means having a baby of my own. And everything that comes with it. Even all the bad that Dee grumbles about."

"Oh?" He smirked. "Then talk to Dee some more about gas and bloating and how embarrassing that can get at times. You'll grumble too. But yeah, Dee did say you told him not too long ago that you were jealous of him being pregnant."

"Oh heck yes!"

"Oh?"

"I mean, just imagine, a chibi of my own," JJ replied. His voice turned soft, as his eyes took on a distant, dreamy look. "With blonde hair, brown eyes, cute little nose and an appetite like a lion. Aw, it'll be so cute." He sighed dreamily.

Ryo's eyes were open wide. "Oh…. Really now?" He smirked again. "Gee, now where are you going to find a man like that?"

"Hm?" JJ's eyes focused on Ryo again. "Pardon. Did you say something?"

"Yeah," Ryo replied. "That I'm glad the little JJ-chibi doesn't have almost black hair and green eyes." He laughed.

JJ leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "Guess not. I mean, Dee's too busy having a little Ryo-chibi."

"Yeah he is. And it's no less amazing than the day he first told me." Ryo's smile was soft for a moment, before turning impish. "Okay then, blonde hair, brown eyes, and…" the smirk returned, "an appetite like a lion? Sounds awfully familiar to me. I'll have to look into that one."

"Uh, well, blue eyes would be nice. Brown hair too. Or whatever comes my way. It takes two, you know? And at the moment there's only me."

"I guess you do need a partner, huh?" Ryo looked thoughtful, and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just one of those from my head to my mouth moments, but I caught it before it was too late. It's best to just stay in my head."

"Aw c'mon, Ryo. I thought we're friends now. Friends can say anything, right?"

Ryo sighed. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. I was just going to comment that it's been a while for you."

"Been a while for… OH! Um, yeah. At least a few months. Don't get me wrong, but I'm no saint like Dee. No way I was going to wait until he decided he wanted me. Good thing too." JJ laughed nervously, before looking back at the counter. "Still not ready yet. I'm starving!" he announced.

Ryo laughed at JJ's outburst. "God, I feel sorry for you if you do get pregnant. You'd be eating like, for four." He laughed harder.

JJ blushed a little. "Well who knows," he said, barely audible enough for Ryo to hear. "For all we know, I'll never find someone to have a baby with. And I'm not too keen on raising a child on my own."

"Hey, looks like they're almost ready for us. I see half our order on the counter."

"Finally!" JJ exclaimed.

"I hope Dee and Drake aren't commiserating over hunger pains. Poor Ted and Marty. I feel sorry if Drake ever gets married and has kids. He'd probably eat more than his wife," Ryo remarked with a snicker. He cast a concealed glance at JJ to study the other man's reaction to his comment.

JJ's face darkened for just a moment before he turned to fully face Ryo. "Like they don't moan about being hungry themselves. Ted and Marty, that is. Especially Ted."

"Ted just likes to moan… about anything," Ryo commented, amused.

"See? That's the good thing about mood swings. At least Dee and I find some joy over some stuff, unlike some grouches we know."

"Ted just needs to get laid," Ryo commented dryly. Realizing he just had another of his from the head to the mouth moments, he blushed slightly.

"So do I," JJ mumbled.

"Um, well mood swings. Thing is that you've been having them long before Dee ever got pregnant," Ryo joked, hoping to move away from topic.

JJ nodded. "So Drake keeps telling me." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, looks like they are done." He stood up and headed over to the counter.

Ryo studied JJ in curiosity for a moment before he stood to follow his companion. Grabbing a couple of bags, he announced, "We eat a lot." He grunted as he hefted the bags better to carry.

JJ laughed. "You know, come to think of it, all this isn't mostly Drake and Dee. Dude, that's scary."

"You know we need to stop at the grocery store too."

"We do?"

"Yeah. Remember? Dee's out of yogurt. And he's addicted to that stuff these days. You don't want to deal with mood swings if Dee doesn't have his yogurt, let me tell you." He grimaced to make his point, which made JJ chuckle.

"You win. We make a quick stop. But hurry so the food doesn't get cold."

Ryo nodded. "You think I want to put up with Dee's grouching about a cold burger? No way. It's going to be quick, believe me."

"Don't you just have a rough life, Ryo," JJ commented as they paid for their food.

"Oh yeah. That I do." Ryo grinned at JJ. "And I wouldn't have it any other way, you know."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Almost there," Ryo remarked as they entered the elevator to go up to the 4th floor. "Prepare yourself for the attack of the hungry savages. Let's hope Dee's not in a mood swing. Mood swings and hungry…." Ryo shuddered. "Not a good combo."

"I say we just drop the bags in their laps and look what they leave for us. Which is why I usually order something I know the rest of you don't like too much," JJ remarked with a grin.

"Rest of 'you'?" Ryo asked. "Are you including me?"

JJ nodded. "You can be just as bad when you're waiting for your food up there."

Ryo glared at JJ, then looked down at the bags he was carrying. "I sure hope they got Dee's order right. If they put pickles on his cheeseburger again, he'll have a fit. Damn, I should have checked before we left."

"So what? Just peel them off and hand them to Drake, like I always do," JJ laughed.

"Easy for you. The burger will have pickle juice on it. So I had to hear the last time I took them off for myself," Ryo remarked.

JJ rolled his eyes as the elevator doors opened. "Puh-lease," he commented as they walked down the hallway. "And Dee used to eat just about anything in our Academy days. Sheesh. You must have spoiled him rotten!" JJ laughed as Ryo made a face. "And pickles? Dee loves pickles."

"He used to eat anything, until recently. Now he'll have a fit if some foods touch other foods on his plate. He hates the taste of some foods, including pickles. And don't give him anything that came out of a can, because it tastes just like metal to him. Weird pregnancy stuff, I guess."

Ryo sighed heavily. "I just learned to 'yes dear' him when it happens. And we're not married yet." He rolled his eyes as they approached the door to the main CI office.

"Aww, poor Wyo!" JJ teased, laughing.

Ryo looked back at JJ with a wicked look. "I'll tell you a secret, JJ. Between you and me, one of the reasons I'd like to have a baby one day is for revenge."

JJ laughed as they entered the office.

"Lunch is here!" Ryo announced, as he went over toward the nearest desk, which was JJ's and currently occupied by Dee. He dropped his bags on the desk surface, then picked up the one with the yogurt.

"Finally!" Dee exclaimed, jumping up from his seat to grab a bag. He pulled out a paper bag and after looking in it, he tossed it to Ted. He took out the next bag and with a huge grin on his face, sat back down, the bag in his possession and leaving the others to fend for themselves now that he had his burger.

Ryo stepped back from the desk during Dee's attack on their lunch, almost bumping into JJ, who stood behind him. JJ steadied Ryo with one hand, and dropped the rest of the bags onto the desk.

Ryo watched as Dee already had the wrapper open and took a bite of his burger, leaning back in the chair with a happy sigh.

Drake leaned across the desk, going through the bags. "Hey, what about mine?"

Dee ignored Drake as he looked up at Ryo, smiling, before taking another bite.

JJ shook his head, watching Drake, noticing that Ted and Marty were about to push past his partner to start digging for their lunch. Ted got his burger, but wanted the rest of his lunch.

Ryo walked over to the other side of the desk to lean down and kiss Dee lightly. "Happy baby?" he asked. He leaned even further to kiss Dee's belly. "You too, chibi?"

With one arm, Dee pulled Ryo to sit in his lap. "Happy happy," he replied as Ryo settled himself.

Behind Ryo, Drake found the bag with his lunch and planted himself on the desk, ripping the bag open to get to his lunch. Ted and Marty reached around him to look through the remaining bags to get their lunch.

As Ryo placed an arm around Dee's neck to softly stroke the hair on the back of his head, Dee took another bite. "This is the best cheesebur…." He stopped abruptly, making a face. "Ewww…" He poked at his burger and pulled out a pickle slice. "Pickles! Bah!"

Ryo watched Dee in concern and shook his head when he saw the pickle slice. "Oh no. They didn't. Baby, I'm so sorry. I told them no pickles."

Drake twisted to reach behind him toward Dee's sandwich. "I'll take those if you don't want them, dude. They forgot them on mine."

"So what's on your sandwich, dude?" Dee asked. "Because now there's pickle goo all over mine."

Drake smirked at Dee. "Roast beast!" he proclaimed, then took a huge bite from the sandwich.

JJ laughed at Drake's antics, then shook his head at the pitiful look on Dee's face as he watched Drake further enjoy his lunch. "Drake, don't pick on Dee too much, 'cause we'll all have to hear him for the rest of the day."

Ryo glared at Drake, then caressing Dee's cheek, he gently said, "Let me check mine. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, and it's not supposed to come with pickles." He picked up his sandwich to inspect it.

Dee started hungrily at Ryo's sandwich, a mournful look on his face. For a moment, Ryo was afraid Dee would start whining.

"Aw man," Drake stated to Dee. "Now you won't eat your sandwich, dude. I'll take it so it won't go to waste."

"Drake," JJ warned.

"Here baby," Ryo said, ignoring Drake. He handed Dee his chicken sandwich, and took the offending cheeseburger for his own lunch. "Stuff it, Drake," he remarked. "This is my lunch now." He took a hearty bite out of it to punctuate his point.

Drake snorted, then went back to finishing his sandwich, fishing his onion rings out of the bag with his free hand.

Ryo continued to watch Drake, noting out of the corner of his eyes that Dee was happily eating the chicken sandwich. Ryo took another bite of the burger and after swallowing, asked, "Hey Drake, you pregnant too, or what?"

Dee paused eating his sandwich to laugh at Ryo's comment. Ted and Marty snickered.

"Oh, he's going to have a sympathy bump," JJ commented breezily.

Ryo laughed at JJ's remark.

"Oh?" Dee asked, attempting to keep a straight face. He gazed up at Ryo. "And how would you know?"

Drake frowned. "Don't go there, dudes," he warned.

Ryo shook his head. "Because Drake seems to eat for three, at the least," he replied to Dee with a wink.

Ted and Marty busted out laughing, Ted almost choking on his food.

With a teasing smile, JJ reached over to pat Drake's small pot belly, as if to say, "Ain't it visible?" He noticed the frown on his partner deepen. "Aw, are you grumpy too?" he asked in a tone as if speaking to a child.

Everyone laughed at JJ, except Drake, who's frown got darker.

"Bite me, JJ!" Drake snapped. "That's called weight lifting."

Dee put his sandwich down, afraid he'd drop it from laughing too hard.

Ryo started to rub his own partner's swell. "I also got you some steamed veggies and cut fruit."

Opposite of Drake's pulling away from JJ's touch, Dee pushed his belly more into Ryo's touch with a sigh. "You're my angel," he stated gratefully.

With a gentle smile, Ryo kissed Dee's nose. "Got to keep you two healthy."

JJ peered at Drake. "What weightlifting? You don't even go to the gym lately."

"You don't know my entire schedule," Drake retorted. "Besides…." He pretended to lift a beer can and chug it down. "Dude, weight lifting."

"Yeah, the weight gets lifted off the bar and straight onto your abs," JJ retorted.

Dee turned his face up to give Ryo a proper kiss. Ryo briefly returned Dee's kiss. "Eat your lunch, Dee. I thought you were hungry. After you eat, there will be more of this."

"Okay," Dee replied to Ryo with a grin. He started to wolf down the rest of the sandwich, along with the veggies.

"Exactly!" Drake started to JJ. "It's a science, you know." He looked smug.

Ryo laughed at Drake, before going back to his lunch. He noticed Dee wholeheartedly eating his meal. "Dee," he warned. "Take human bites."

"You," JJ announced to Drake, "are the sad experiment or what?" He poked Drake's forehead with the tip of his finger as he spoke.

Drake scowled at JJ. "So what are you trying to say here?"

JJ shrugged, appearing all innocent and clueless.

"Dude," Dee remarked, swallowing his latest bite of his almost finished lunch, "he's trying to let you know you're getting fat and unlike me, you don't have a good excuse." He grinned innocently up at Drake and made a show out of taking a bite of what was left of the chicken sandwich.

Drake stared at Dee, not believing what he heard his long time friend say. He was totally speechless and unable to form a comeback.

Ryo started to cough, finding himself laughing at what Dee had to say as he was swallowing a bite of his hamburger. Dee started to rub Ryo's back, helping him catch his breath.

Drake looked at JJ uneasily. "It's just a little thing. I'm not fat," he defended.

"Uh, I never said that, Drake." JJ tossed a look at Dee, then back to Drake. "I know you're not. And I want it to stay that way. There's no use for a partner who starts huffing and wheezing somewhere behind me as we chase after some perps."

Dee bit his tongue, willing to keep himself from making further comments. He had a list, but decided to use the energy on finishing his lunch. He gave Ryo, who was still comfortably settled on his lap, a hidden slight nudge, then found he had to clamp down on more than a chuckle.

Ryo had a smirk on his face, telling him, he was having no problem eating and tossing out sarcasm. "Like Chief," he added to JJ's comment. He snickered at the surprised look on Dee's face and leaned over to nip Dee's nose lightly.

Marty broke out in laughter, while Ted fought to keep from spitting out his soda. Dee snorted and coughed a little from the bite he had taken as Ryo spoke, trying not to laugh until he swallowed his food.

JJ watched the exchange between the two lovers, feeling envious of them being so open. Ryo especially, who since New Year's Eve, had become quite comfortable with public displays of affection with Dee. Meanwhile Dee was eating it all up, happily accepting what Ryo gave him, and returning the gestures.

Ryo glanced at the door, just to be sure Chief Smith did not walk in. It would be his luck, he thought belatedly. Right on top of that thought was the realization that if the Chief had, they all would have known by then.

"Seriously," Ryo said to Drake. "I don't know where most of that food goes to, Drake. You may have…that…but," he paused to snicker, "the way you eat, you should already be giving Chief competition in the gut area."

Drake shrugged. "Fast metabolism. That's what. Jealous?" His eyes met Ryo's with a challenge as he took a big bite of his sandwich.

JJ let out a heavy sigh. "Praise the Lord for Drake's metabolism," he announced sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Dee snorted, and joined Marty and Ted in snickering at the banter.

Ryo looked at JJ. "Yeah, I agree. Or else he'd get stuck in a doorway or something."

JJ's eyes went wide with horror. "Ack!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, what is this?" Drake grumped. "Pick on Drake day?"

"That'd make him the Oliphant Man," Dee once again joined in on the banter, picking up on Ryo's comment.

Ryo almost fell off Dee's lap from laughing so hard. Drake frowned as he attempted to ignore the others, eating his lunch.

"Aw, I like Oliphants," JJ remarked, casting a glance at Drake.

"We sorta noticed," Ted muttered.

"Oh yeah, fine," Drake remarked, grabbing for a napkin. "Why don't you two lovebirds just pick yourselves up and go into that nice little special office there and let me eat in peace."

Ryo nudged Dee not to comment. Dee's mouth clamped shut just as he was about to say something.

"At least JJ's got him trained to use napkins," Marty laughed.

JJ sat closer to Drake and ruffled his hair. "Aww, Drakey-pooh," he sighed. "It's okay. I know you're not that bad."

"Yet," Dee snorted into his sandwich. Ryo poked him again as he snickered. Ryo looked over to Drake and JJ to check if Drake had heard Dee.

He noticed JJ attempting to comfort Drake. Ryo had seen that scenario many times before, but not exactly like that. He rolled his eyes, getting Dee's attention to look at the other two. "Ah gods, they've reversed rolls now," he said, amused.

"Look who's talking!" Ted remarked with a laugh.

Dee leaned so his mouth was by Ryo's ear. "How can he just sit there and not react?" he asked in a whisper for Ryo's ears only.

Ryo shrugged.

"I mean, even you would have a reaction when I'd do something like that to you," Dee added.

"Yeah, I had a reaction, all right," Ryo stated, also in a whisper. "I usually was pushing you off, you horny ape."

Dee laughed. "And yet, look at what you did to the horny ape," he commented, grasping Ryo's hand and resting it on his swell.

"Dee…" Ryo sighed, smiling. He kissed Dee lightly. "Okay, you win."

"Yup, yup," Marty stated, his eyes on Ryo and Dee. "I agree."

Ryo and Dee looked over to Ted and Marty, Ryo giving a shrug.

Marty snickered, giving Ted the thumbs-up, then went back to eating his lunch while watching what the others were up to.

Drake pulled away from JJ's hand with a jerk. "C'mon, cut it out, JJ," he snapped. "You're messing up the hair gel, dammit!"

JJ pulled his hand away from Drake as if he had gotten burned. "Sorry," he uttered. He dropped his head a second, before handing Drake the rest of his sandwich. "Here, you can have that. I'm not hungry anymore." He stood up and walked across the office, grabbing an empty shopping bag. He started to busy himself by collecting the garbage from their lunch.

Ryo continued to eat, watching JJ and Drake carefully.

Drake looked down at the sandwich in his hand, then gazed over to JJ. "What? Geez, there you go again!" he said to JJ.

"Oh oh," Dee observed, speaking low to Ryo.

"I'm going to put this in the fridge," Drake said, standing up and indicating the sandwich as he spoke to JJ. "Because you'll probably get hungry later."

Ryo nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"Just eat it," JJ snapped. "I don't like it all that much anyway."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "How did we survive it?" he asked.

Dee ran his hand up and down Ryo's back soothingly. He smiled lovingly at Ryo. "Because I was being so damn patient?"

Ted sat back in his seat, his eyes going from JJ and Drake, to Ryo and Dee whispering, and back again. Who needed a TV when there were those four around? Life was never boring.

Ryo rolled his eyes at Dee's comment. "Not that."

"Oh! You mean after we…?" He shrugged. "No idea. Self preservation, I guess." He leaned up for a quick kiss.

"Mmm…" Ryo sighed into the kiss. "Better stop. Pickles are an aphrodisiac for me."

Dee snorted, gazing up at Ryo through eyes hooded by long dark lashes. "Oh? Hmm, maybe I do like pickles after all," he stated with a wink.

"Well, I'm going to bring Jim his shake, since he doesn't appear to be making it up here." He grabbed the untouched shake and went to the door.

Dee's eyes fell on the, until then, unnoticed shake. He turned pleading green eyes up to Ryo. "I want one of those."

"Be good and we'll stop off near home for one." Ryo kissed Dee's nose.

"Yes!" Dee smiled. "Okay, Chibi, you have some time to decide which type you want."

Drake watched JJ leave the office in a huff. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to fix it. "Jesus, I hate it when he gets on the rag!"

Dee frowned at Drake, looking insulted. "Hey now," he warned.

"Dude, you don't get on the rag. You're just pregnant."

"We're all males," Dee said. "No rags for us!" He winked at Ryo.

Ryo snorted loudly, letting all in the office know what he thought of that comment. He smiled sweetly at Dee. "But I still love you."

Dee's eyes went to the door. With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he said, "Who knows, maybe JJ's pregnant too? He did say he wanted one of his own as soon as he found out about ours?"

Ryo shook his head, chuckling.

"No he's not!" Drake snapped.

"Um, Drake," Ryo called out. "Maybe JJ needs help…" realizing what JJ left with, he lamely finished his question, "with the shake?"

Dee pinched Ryo's side gently, snorted softly. "I thought you were going to tell Drake to help JJ with a baby," Dee muttered just for Ryo to hear. He started to laugh, resting his forehead on Ryo's arm.

Ryo lowered his head, and bit his lip to keep from bursting out in laughter at Dee's comment. A snort still escaped.

Drake glared at Ryo. "And JJ's much stronger than you're giving him credit for." He frowned even deeper than he already was.

Dee snickered, looking up at Drake from behind Ryo. "Even if he's on the rag?" he joked.

Ted rummaged around in his desk drawer and pulled out a bag of popcorn. "It's not fresh microwave," he said to Marty, opening the bag. He sat back in his chair, starting to eat the popcorn, watching the others.

"What I mean is," Ryo tried clarifying himself, "he's upset, he's your partner, go take care of him man!"

Dee nodded in agreement.

"Aw, dammit!" Drake threw the remains of his sandwich on the desk. "Now I'm not hungry. Shit!" He glanced over at Ryo. "I suppose I should. As always," he sighed, walking across the office to the door.

Meanwhile in the hallway, JJ was leaning against the door, listening to everything going on in the office since he left. When he heard Drake's voice coming closer to the door, he ran off to flee down the stairs.

Ted held out his popcorn to Marty, who grabbed a handful and nodded his thanks. Both men went back to watching the lunchtime entertainment.

Dee shook his head. "What did we just say about how we survived that? Sheesh."

Ryo nodded. "You didn't push that bad and I didn't push you away that bad either, I think," he replied.

"You call that pushing bad?" Dee asked. "Damn baby, we're talking JJ here. He's playing it as cool as it can get – for him.

"See you all later," Drake called out. "If I survive, that is." He walked out of the office, leaving his mess on the desk.

"Oh man," Marty sighed as Drake left.

"Man, you two weren't that bad during that, uh, hiding time of yours," Ted commented to Dee and Ryo, making the two to look up guiltily from whispering. "Were you?"

Dee shook his head.

"I hope not," Ryo sighed.

* * *

A/N: Once again, great big thanks and hugs to you reviewers! And I really shouldn't forget those who just read. It's amazing how many hits this fic has gotten. YAY! Thanks to everyone! I was recently told that The Unexpected I is on FFN's Greatest Anime Fics community.

It made me think more about things and… as a result the chapters of TU II on my LJ are no longer just for friends. They are now public for anyone who goes there to read. And here's where you go, if you want: http://totally4ryo. yeah… that name just might look familiar… 'cause that's me too – posting my non-mpreg FAKE fics. I'll continue to post TU as FAKEmpregnator (only because I like the name so much! LOL!).

Special thanks to Dawn for doing once again an awesome job at beta, and DeeRyoFan who helped out with most of this chapter.

And here's wishing everyone a very Happy Holidays and may you all get what you wish for!


	13. Lunch Continues

The Unexpected II  
Chapter 13  
Lunch Continues

"So," Ted spoke into the sudden silence of the office, "do they have a lover's spat once a day or what?"

Marty choked on his drink. Setting it down, he turned to stare at his partner in disbelief. "What? You're kiddin' me right, dude?"

"Hell's bells," Ted replied, "Didn't we learn already from Dee and Ryo? C'mon, tell me there's not something going on between those two." Ted looked over to the couple still sitting together, hoping for some confirmation from them. Both men appeared to be not listening, and involved in their own private discussion.

"Hey, you two lovebirds, stop whispering over there and share. That's impolite!" Marty called out to Ryo and Dee. He balled up a paper napkin and tossed it at the two.

Ryo turned in time to put up a hand and bat it back at Marty.

"Are you sure you want us to share?" Dee asked slyly. "I mean, for all you know, we could be discussing our plans for after Bikky goes to bed."

"Eww," Ted remarked. "Don't share, but keep all that lovey-dovey whispering stuff when it's just the two of you."

"If it's just the two of us, then we won't have to whisper," Ryo replied, completely deadpanned.

Dee dropped his forehead against Ryo's arm and chuckled.

"Whatever," Marty said, then snorted. He picked up the rolled up paper napkin that landed on his desk and batted it toward into his trashcan. Looking back to Ted, he said, "Seriously, Ted. You're getting paranoid. Drake's so not into men. So what has JJ's panties in a wad lately?"

Ted shrugged. Dee and Ryo busied themselves with finishing the remains of their lunch.

"I don't know what he's thinking," Ted remarked thoughtfully. "Maybe that's why he'd been acting weird lately. Drake, I mean."

Marty shook his head. "Impossible. Besides, I think JJ is still not over…." He gestured with his hand toward Dee, who was currently smiling up at Ryo.

Ryo shook his head and shifted so he could look over at Ted and Marty without twisting his head. "It's not JJ's panties in a wad," he stated.

"That too!" Ted agreed with Ryo, glad someone was siding with him.

Dee glanced up at Ryo and softly warned, "Baby…"

Ryo looked down at Dee and smirked. He ran his hand through Dee's dark hair, messing it up.

Dee's reaction was to close his eyes, seeming to relax a little and purr under Ryo's ministrations.

Marty snorted loudly at the display. "Whipped," he muttered.

Ted pointed to Ryo, who was still running his fingers through Dee's hair. "That's what I mean."

Marty scrunched his face into a slight frown. "Okay, I gotta admit, I'm sorta lost here. So how does Drake's reaction prove your point? He definitely didn't purr, like the whipped one over there."

"I mean that Dee's the hair mousse queen. Drake never was. Until now," Ted explained.

Marty stared at Ted, not sure what to say because he still could not make sense of what his partner was saying. He shook his head. "And because Drake suddenly uses gel, that makes him… what? Dude, I don't get you at times, partner or no."

Dee snickered, reaching around Ryo to grab the bag of popcorn Ryo had gotten for them. He opened the back and sat back in his chair to watch Ted and Marty.

Ted swatted at Marty. "No, numbnuts!"

Marty swatted Ted back. "Meanie!"

Dee and Ryo broke out in laughter, as they shared the popcorn.

"I mean," Ted attempted to further clarify, "Drake's never cared if suddenly his hair got messed up. But he nearly went through the ceiling just now."

"Maybe because previously JJ only bothered Dee with messing up some hair, along with other body parts?" Marty countered.

"Man, if I was JJ, I'd have went in for the kill and made sure Drake's hair would stand on end for days," Ted mused. "I mean, Drake was kinda mean to JJ."

"Aw, you know how JJ is," Marty said. "One wrong word and… HUFF HUFF HUFF!" He mimicked his conception of JJ in a snit.

"Well anyway, JJ can't do any of that stuff to Dee anymore. Besides, Dee usually hit back when JJ glomped him," Ted stated.

"And if he tries now, Ryo will hit back," Marty snickered.

Dee leaned his head against Ryo's shoulder again, laughing at the other two.

Ryo started to choke on his drink. Dee grabbed the cup from Ryo's hand, and started to rub Ryo's back gently. "Easy there, Mr. Slurpy."

Once Ryo caught his breath, he looked at Dee, then leaned over to whisper in his fiancé's ear, "I'll Mr. Slurpy you later."

Dee beamed up at Ryo. "Oh yippee!" He bounced Ryo a little.

"Ah well," Ted said, unaware of what the two soon-to-be married couple were talking about, "We'll see how this one plays out."

"Five bucks you are so on the wrong train there," Marty replied.

"Deal!"

Marty held his hand up for a high five, which Ted returned.

Ryo gasped as he was bounced and looked down at Dee's lap. He looked up to Dee, raising his eyebrow in question.

"What?" Dee asked, completely clueless on whatever had Ryo's attention.

"If you don't know," Ryo replied, then giggled.

Ted and Marty went back to eating their lunch.

Dee's eyes opened with dawning realization, then he snickered. "Baby, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not what you think it is."

"Oh?" Ryo asked. "I thought you weren't allowed to carry a gun?"

Ted and Marty looked up as the door opened. JJ entered the office, relieved that he successfully avoided Drake. The smaller detective plopped down on his desk, dangling his feet.

"Not a gun either," Dee was replying to Ryo as JJ entered. He blushed, looking down, then leaned back so he could reach into his front pocket to pull out a snack bar. He held it up, waving it before Ryo. "This is what you felt."

Ryo burst out in laughter. "You are so bad." He took the bar from Dee and looked at it. "Well, at least it's granola. And healthy. Here, you can have it back." He handed the snack bar back to Dee. "You don't have to hide things in your pocket." He leaned over to lightly kiss Dee's cheek. "But you're too cute sometimes."

Dee blushed more. Ted and Marty laughed at Dee.

"Man, I didn't think Dee could go lobster red," Marty laughed.

"Aw, don't be mean," Ted replied. "It's all those hormones."

"Shut up," Dee grumbled.

Ryo gazed over at JJ, who was still lightly kicking his feet against the desk, looking down and seemingly unaware of what was going on in the office. "Hey JJ. Did Jim like his shake?"

"I guess," JJ relied. "He grabbed it and went back to business. He's kinda busy today."

"Hopefully with getting us some answers to finding that asshole," Dee remarked.

JJ nodded. "Me too. If I have to look at another scene from him…." He sighed. "I feel like we're at a dead end."

"Yeah," Ryo agreed. "I'm hoping we can start getting answers without another victim, thank you."

"So, I think we need to figure out a game plan here," JJ said.

"Only to bang our heads against the wall more," Dee grumped. Absently, he started to rub his bump.

"Maybe you guys can go to where the vics lived and ask around more?" Ryo asked.

JJ nodded. "Might as well."

Everyone looked up as Drake walked into the office. Drake caught enough as he walked in to ask, "We're back on finding our Carrier killer?"

"What else?" Dee asked.

Ryo frowned, covering Dee's hand with his. "Yeah. I want that son of a bitch caught already." He placed a protective arm around Dee's shoulder.

"Well, I'm going to start with checking phone calls again. Try to trace our victim's steps or something," JJ added.

Dee let out a heavy sigh. "And I'm gonna be stuck here again. Dammit!"

"I can't go with them either, Dee," Ryo gently reminded him. "Remember, I'm officially off the case."

"I know. But as soon as there's another call, you're off, doing your duty. And me? I'm stuck here again."

"That's exactly why I want him caught," Ryo replied. "So you can go off on your own whenever you please. That and what he's doing to those poor men." He took Dee's hand. "But until I'm called out on something else, we can work with what we have from the computers."

Dee nodded. "JJ, leave the calls for us then. You guys concentrate on doing the legwork."

"Sounds good," Drake agreed. "But shouldn't you also be preparing for the press conference tonight, Dee?"

Dee shook his head. "I studied the script as much as I could already. Besides, I need to leave room for sincere replies. So until then, give me something to sink into with this case."

"This may be a long shot," Drake said, "but maybe we need to start going through some old cases again. It may not be our killer, but what if there's some cases that got buried? It's only recent that the general public is getting on board with caring about what happens to Carriers."

Ryo nodded, biting his lip. "Yeah. Don't know what we'll find to help us, but looking can't hurt at this time."

"Well, bring on the boxes of old files then," Dee said. "We can all start going through them, but that will also give me something to fill my time while you're all off and doing your jobs."

"Aw Dee," Ryo sighed. "Don't start thinking you're useless again. You're plenty helpful. As long as you keep on doing your paperwork."

Dee made a face at Ryo. "Don't have much of a choice these days, with our agreement, huh?"

"No."

"You can be so mean sometimes."

"Only because I love you." Ryo stopped any further comments from Dee by softly kissing him.

JJ jumped off the desk. "In that case, I think I'm going to go start hauling some cold cases we have laying around downstairs that didn't make it into the computer system yet."

Dee rolled his eyes. "I suppose they'll end up in the system anyway, huh?" He let out a heavy sigh.

Drake laughed. "Might as well while going through them. Up to it, Dee?"

Dee grumped. "Shit. I hate to say it, but by keeping busy, it does help take my mind off what I feel I should be doing."

"That's a yes," Ted said with a laugh.

"Okay, old dusty cases on their way up, then." He walked out of the office, brushing Drake's side slightly as he passed his partner.

Drake pulled away. No one but JJ noticed. JJ glared at Drake and with a snort, left the office in a huff, slamming the door enough to make all occupants jump.

"What the fuck?" Dee asked, staring at the door, then to Drake. "Now what did you do to him?" Ryo was standing next to Dee, glaring at Drake.

"Me?" Drake snapped back.

"What's up with you and JJ lately?" Marty asked Drake. "You two seem to get on each other's nerves quite often lately."

Drake sighed heavily as he attempted to set his hair back into place. "Probably because we do," he replied.

"But why?" Marty asked.

Ted snorted and looked over to Dee and Ryo. Both men were shaking their heads at Marty. Ted caught Ryo's eye and Ryo merely smirked, before his attention went to rubbing Dee's back.

"Dunno," Drake answered with a shrug. "We just rub each other the wrong way lately. It's like… JJ's just super sensitive lately." He sighed again in frustration.

Marty smirked. "Well, maybe he just needs to get laid. Like some other people I know." He tossed a pen at Ted.

Dee snorted out a chuckle, while Ryo rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Are you trying to say something here, partner?" Ted asked.

"Nuuuuuhhhhh," came the reply in triplicate.

Drake had to laugh at Marty, Dee and Ryo. "I agree," he added with a chuckle.

Ryo playfully poked Dee in the side. "Hey, weren't they saying that to you not long ago?" he asked with a wink.

Dee laughed and nodded. "Yup. But once they found out I was knocked up, they had to stop."

Ryo smiled, running his fingers gently through Dee's hair. "Yeah, huh? And no one's tried to say that to me either since."

Dee stared at Ted thoughtfully.

"Oh hell no! You're crazy, Dee!"

Dee broke out in laughter, unable to keep a straight face. "I'm just teasing you, bud. We all know you're as straight as an arrow."

"Well, we used to think that about Ryo – most of the time," Marty snickered.

"Same with Drake," Ted added.

"Don't start, Teddy-boy," Marty remarked.

"Anyway, did you guys ever think that I could have a honey tucked away somewhere because I don't want to expose her to you animals?" Ted asked.

Dee, Ryo and Drake laughed at Ted.

Marty shook his head with a chuckle. "Yeah, right. Like you wouldn't have chewed our ears off already about how great, wonderful, beautiful, and everything else she was. And then we'd have to hear once again that she was _THE ONE._ You know, Miss Right number 135, or something. I lost count."

Drake was laughing at Ted's expression and did not noticed Marty's attention turn to him.

"And you, Parker, need to get laid, too," Marty added.

Drake stared at Marty, and snorted. "What do I need that for?" he asked, annoyed. "What do you get in return for getting some? You get someone on the rag. Well, except Ryo and Dee."

Marty peered at Drake in confusion. "Huh?" he asked. "Please don't tell me you swore off sex just because you seem to lose 'em after you sleep with 'em. At least Dee had a good excuse."

"Well, maybe not Ryo and Dee," Ted stated. "I mean, look what Ryo has to put up with these days."

"Stop bringing Dee into this," Dee remarked. "Dee's gotten plenty in the last 3 years, thank you."

"Dee!" Ryo remarked, then grinned down at Dee. "Don't be a bad boy."

Dee merely grinned back at Ryo.

Only Ted caught the exchange. "Oh God… TMI, boys!"

Ryo turned his back to the others and in a low tone, whispered, "Now you're really getting it."

"I'm hoping so," Dee replied in the same tone.

They all looked up as the door opened and they watched JJ walk back in, holding onto an envelope. "Dee, this is for you," JJ said as he went over to his own desk that Dee and Ryo still occupied. "Rose saw me as he was leaving his office. He was on his way out to get things set up for tonight, so he asked if I'd deliver it to you."

Dee took the envelope from JJ and opened it. Inside he found several printed pages. "Updates on the case in the manner I'm supposed to deliver them tonight," Dee said.

Ryo nodded.

JJ looked around the office, having a feeling all talking stopped with his entrance. "Did I interrupt something here?" he asked.

"Drake's right hand," Ted replied with a laugh.

"Screw you, Ted," Drake snapped.

"Pardon me?" JJ asked Marty. He gazed at the others until his eyes rested on Drake.

Marty let out a snort. "Now that would be great. Would take care of both of you getting laid at once," he said, then laughed.

JJ frowned at Marty. "Huh?"

Drake waved his hand, as if dismissing Ted and Marty. "This… Ted and Marty being smartasses, again," he explained.

Ted laughed, then leaned over to whisper to Marty. "Five bucks. You better be warming that up to hand over, dude."

Marty snorted. "Keep dreamin', bozo. As if Drake would really bat for the other team."

Ryo settled on JJ's desk, close to where Dee still sat. "Ted and Marty were discussing office politics," he started innocently. He caught Dee's knowing smirk as he spoke.

Dee chuckled, shaking his head. He had the papers out of the envelope and leaned back in the chair to start reading them.

While it appeared as if Dee was engrossed in the paperwork, Ryo knew his partner well enough to know that while Dee was actually reading and committing to memory as much of the new information as possible, he was also aware of what was going on around him in the office. So many times, at a later time, sometimes even months, or years, Dee would bring up something with precision that was said when he supposedly was not listening. Dee's mind had a way of picking up things and using various references to later recall many things. It was one of the things that made him a great detective – his mind would pick up things after they left a scene that most times would be helpful in getting leads to solving a case.

"Yeah," Ted stated. "As in fraternization."

"Well, off I go again," JJ said. "And you know, along the way I realized what a great help it would be if there were two of us pulling cases. Oh well…." He glared at Drake and went off toward the door again.

This time before JJ could slam it, Drake was right behind him.

Dee's eyes were off the papers and where the others' eyes were, at the now closed door. "Interesting," he said low for Ryo only.

Ted shook his head. "Man! I have to tell you two lovebirds that you were boring."

"Huh? How so?" Dee asked.

"Because you and Ryo managed to keep things low key. Not so much drama," Ted replied. "We had no idea until you told us. Now those two… Sheesh. They might as well just give it up."

"Dude," Marty said to Ted, "if you call that drama, you have no idea what to expect once you're married and have a few kiddies."

Ryo's wide eyes settled on Marty. "Oy!" he exclaimed.

"Whoops," came from Marty, then he laughed. "Relax there, Ryo. It's a pleasant kind of drama… sort of."

Dee laughed. "Trust me, we have drama. We're just better at keeping it between us. And Ted, give 'em a break. That was not drama. I mean, we've all seen what drama is really like from JJ."

"Hey Marty," Ryo remarked, "just try to be nice about the married with kiddies jokes here, huh?" He tried to frown at Marty.

"Well, man, not like I don't know what I'm talking about," Marty said to Ryo.

"All I'm saying is just be gentle here, for me and Dee. Wedding in less than three weeks and baby already on the way," Ryo stated.

"You'll do fine, Ryo," Ted assured. "You're got the 'Yes, dear' down very well. Marty is proud of you, dude."

Marty snickered as Ryo glared at Ted. Dee smothered a laugh, then again when he felt Ryo's glare settle on him.

"Look, as I said, it's a pleasant type of drama." Marty's eyes settled on Dee's the obvious swell of Dee's abdomen for a brief moment. "And so worth it once you hold your first baby in your arms."

Ryo smiled gently. "Its so worth it right now, holding Dee in my arms," he said, his voice warm with love. He smiled at Dee.

"Aw Ryo." Dee smiled back at Ryo. "Love you."

Ryo leaned over to kiss Dee softly. "You look like you're finished with your lunch. Let me clean up here. You sit back and relax a bit."

"Nuh, come on," Dee protested. "At least let me do some work around this place."

"And have you collapse again?" Marty asked, standing up and collecting his and Ted's trash. No way, dude."

"Oh please, no," Ted remarked. "Never again, okay Dee?"

"Besides," Ryo said, "you'll work. Or have you been ignoring that pile on your desk?"

"Paperwork again?" Dee whimpered.

"It's detective work," Ryo replied, putting the trash into a bag. He went over to take the trash Marty held to put into the bag. "Thanks, Marty."

"No prob, dear," Marty teased.

Ryo glared at Marty. From behind them came a snort from Dee, as Ted chuckled. With an impish grin, Marty poked his tongue out at Ryo.

"Sheesh," Dee commented. "How old are you? Four?"

Ryo laughed at Marty. "I'm guessing we should look forward to that, Dee. It comes from having kids."

"Now you're catching on," Marty laughed.

"Whelp, that pile won't go away no matter how much I try to make it disappear with my mind," Dee stated. Sighing heavily, he stood up to go back into their office and tackle the wretched pile of paperwork waiting for him. Reports with no field investigations to precede them. That bothered Dee the most. The majority of his work lately had been reports based on the others' investigations. He felt he had been demoted to CI admin, rather than still being a detective.

"You're so smart, Dee," Marty snickered, unaware of the depressing thoughts running through his co-worker's head.

Ryo glanced over to Dee. "I can help you for a bit, but then if you finish them, you might have nothing to do."

"That's okay," Dee replied. "You've got enough on your plate, baby. But thank you." He smiled sweetly at Ryo. "Even if I have to ignore half of this stuff later this afternoon to run through all my notes one more time before the press conference."

Ted did an exaggerated double take at Dee. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "Pregnancy is good for your temper, Dee."

Ryo snorted loudly. "If you only knew, Ted." He smiled warmly at Dee. "But I still love you anyway."

Dee's response was to poke his tongue out at Ryo.

"Geez Dee, like how old are you? Four?" Marty asked, amused. He grinned, winking at Ryo, who was chuckling.

"It's the chibi," Ryo laughed. He went over to rub Dee's shoulder. "We're just messing with you."

"I know. Lemme go and see what I can do about that mountain in there," Dee said.

"Oh, it's not that bad," Ryo stated.

"For you, it's not. But this is me. And I better get used to it. I still have five months of looking forward to this."

The others watched as Dee went into the private office he shared with Ryo, leaving the door open.

* * *

As Drake closed the office door, he realized that JJ was walking quickly and already on his way down the hallway. He quickened his pace until he was walking alongside JJ. 

"Hey JJ, um… do you want to come over to my place tonight?" he asked his irritated partner.

"Do you want me to?" JJ asked, looking straight ahead.

"No," Drake snapped, annoyed. "I'm just asking you for some stupid reason. What do you think?"

JJ stopped and turned to face Drake, glaring. "Would you stop talking to me like that? What crawled up your backside today anyway?"

"What? I asked if you want to come over. And you reply if I want you to. What's that? If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked."

"Well, you didn't exactly give me the feeling my company was appreciated lately."

Drake shook his head. "Not here, okay. Not like that. Just come over tonight, so we can talk." Then under his breath, he muttered, "Again."

"What the heck, Drake? We've had more physical contact at work before we hoo… I mean, before this thing – whatever it is, started. What makes it so different? Because you don't have the excuse of comforting me because of Dee anymore, or what?"

"JJ," Drake started, speaking low. "It's hard. Okay?"

JJ sniffed in annoyance. "That's not the only thing that's hard around here." He turned on his heel and started to stomp down the corridor.

"Hey, wait up!" Drake called out. He ran to catch up with his upset partner. "Jemmy, hey!" As he came up to the other man, he grabbed JJ's arm to stop him. "Okay, let's talk now."

"Oh,_now_ you want to talk? Bite me, Parker," JJ snapped.

"Yeah, I do want to talk. What's up with you anyway today? I'm not the one going around like something crawled up my ass and died, you know."

JJ blinked, staring at Drake unbelieving. "What's wrong with me? Let's think about this _really hard._ I'll even use really small words so you can understand."

Drake looked affronted. "Hey, wait a minute here. What gives you the right to get pissed off here?" He could not believe JJ sometimes. After all, he was the one who had been on a slow boil since Friday. That day he found himself rapidly reaching the boiling point. He pointed a finger accusingly at JJ. "You go and slobber all over Dee, and then you get pissed off at me? You have to be freakin' joking!" It was getting harder to keep his voice from rising, but he did not want the entire 4th floor to hear their business. Which was why he was hoping to avoid it until later that evening, when they could speak freely.

JJ had no problems with worries about speaking freely. "Slobber over Dee?" he asked, his voice rising. "The only person I've been slobbering over is you."

Drake shook his head. "Oh bullshit, JJ!" In a bad imitation of the other man, he continued. "Ohh Dee… you look so handsome in your new clothes. Oh yes Ryo, Dee is very sexy…." His voice started to drip with disgust.

"Well heck, Drake, Dee is! And so is Ryo. Matter of fact, so is Rose, for crying out loud!" He took a deep breath to calm himself, knowing from Drake's face, he wasn't helping by listing off every man he found attractive in the 27th, in a tone loud enough for all those men to know it. "Besides, Dee needs a little ego boost. The poor man feels like a freakin' whale right now. He needs to be encouraged. He needs to know how beautiful he is."

Drake snorted, balling his hands into fists. 'And I'm just getting plain old fat, and I most certainly don't have an Adonis body like Dee. Even with Dee pregnant and showing, I still get this sense that I don't stand up to him." He sighed heavily and turned away frustrated.

JJ stared at Drake with his mouth gaping open. "Wha..?" Quickly, he moved to put his arm around Drake's waist. "Oh Drakey, you're not fat. Besides, I think that your little Buddha belly is adorable." He smiled up at Drake. "And it means that you're eating my cooking. After all, I've been feeding you long before we decided to become an 'us'."

Drake stiffened in the hug, then sighed again in frustration. "I'm sorry, JJ. I'm just insecure and… God, JJ, I'm just not ready to be like Ryo and Dee yet. I need time. You can't expect me to do this in a few months what it took them almost three years to be able to do."

JJ leaned up to rest his chin on Drake's shoulder. "I know. But, we can't even touch anymore here. We used to do that every day, but not now. I'm almost about to start acting upset over Dee being with Ryo, just to give you an excuse to touch me."

After checking that the corridor was still clear, Drake smiled gently at JJ. "That's because when you touch me these days, I just want to do something about it, but I can't. At least not the way I want to. So I pull away. And yeah, I know that's telling too. But I can't help it."

"Yeah, it is telling when you completely cut me out. People are going to start asking questions because it's odd behavior for us."

"I don't know. Shit, the guys are already making comments, you know. When you came in and asked what did you interrupt before, it was everyone but Marty interrogating me about you," Drake explained.

JJ giggled, remembering the atmosphere when he walked back into the office. He leaned up to kiss Drake's cheek. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let the others close to us know. Dee and Ryo already broke the ice, and Ted and Marty have been plenty supportive. Why shouldn't it be the same for us? Huh? Look, why don't you talk to Ryo. He was once in your position. Maybe he's willing to offer some advice so you don't have to wait over two years, or there's a pregnancy, until you feel comfortable about us in public." JJ placed his fingers on Drake's opening mouth. "Think before you say anything. Remember, Dee is Ryo's first and only male lover. He had to go through just about everything you're going through when he first started to go with Dee. And now, he's out of that tunnel and into the light – or should I say, Ryo's out of the closet now. And Ryo is not the type of guy who would turn down a request for help. Heck, he was there for me at times when I needed someone even back when we were rivals."

JJ was pressed up against Drake, both arms around his neck by the time he finished speaking. Drake found himself looking around nervously again. "Uh, JJ… oh, Nevermind," he sighed. "Look, I don't know. Maybe I should talk to him. He probably knows anyway."

"I'm pretty sure he does." Still cuddling against Drake, he nuzzled the taller man's jaw line a little.

Drake sighed again and gently tried to push JJ away from him. "He's so busy these days, with the wedding coming up and everything. I don't want to bother him now."

JJ released his hold on Drake and looked up at the blond man. He nodded in agreement. "But he'll be married in three weeks. So don't hold that as an excuse for the next few months. Or the baby as another excuse."

Drake held his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, I gotcha! But both him and Dee are busy with wedding planning. Every night this week, they have an appointment they need to be at."

"And by this weekend, they should have all their plans finalized, contracts signed and then two weeks of waiting around for the big day," JJ pointed out.

"But there's still parties, and showers and getting ready for their honeymoon," Drake pointed out.

"There you go again. Excuses. I think if you ask Ryo, if he's too busy, he'll tell you and let you know when will be a good time."

"Yeah. Whatever. Let me think on this a bit, okay? Like a day or two."

"Dee and Ryo have off tomorrow."

"And according to Dee, they have practically the whole day planned out. They're having lunch with Ryo's grandmother, Dee has a pre-natal monthly in the afternoon. They also have a food tasting, or cake tasting, whatever. And they're going for a fitting for their wedding suits. Oh shit, speaking of… Did Ryo give you a card for our suit fittings?"

JJ nodded. "I take it Dee got the rest of you while you were waiting, huh?" When Drake nodded, JJ smiled up at Drake. "This afternoon, I'll call and make an appointment for us. The sooner we get our first fitting, the better our suits are going to fit us on their wedding day. And you, Drakey, are going to look sooo handsome. I just know it. Especially since it's obvious Dee and Ryo did not settle for off the racks rentals for their groomsmen. And you have no idea how relieved I am about that."

Drake laughed and started to walk toward the elevator. "Oh yes, I do. I know you, remember?"

"Yeah you do," JJ smiled, walking along with Drake.

They remained in a comfortable silence until they were on the elevator. Realizing they were alone, JJ leaned against Drake again, and kissed his cheek. "You know," he murmured, leaning up so his mouth was close to Drake's ear. "Maybe if we snuck off by ourselves every once in a while and blew off some of the steam would help?"

"Sneak off?" Drake asked. "To where? No where around here, I can assure you. I'd be too nervous to do anything." He chuckled nervously.

"Maybe," JJ went on thoughtfully, "we could find a few moments here and there in empty offices, or squad cars? I mean…." He hugged Drake to him. "This is all I want to do at times during the day."

Carefully Drake put his arms around JJ to return the hug, his eyes on the indicator to alert him if they were stopping soon and possibly picking up more passengers. "Why can't we just call it an early day already, dammit! Oh right, it's only Monday. Shit!"

JJ laughed. "And we have the press conference that Rose wants us to hang around for, to make sure Dee gets away quickly and safely." He smiled up at Drake, enjoying the feel of his boyfriend's arms around him.

It was only during the long talk he had with Drake on New Year's Eve, that JJ discovered the person he was hoping for was not Dee, but Drake. Drake was normally there for him for almost everything. That night JJ realized how much he relied on Drake and trusted him – much more than Dee. Both men realized that there might be love there, waiting for the taking. They decided to give it a try, and not long after, knew they were right. JJ loved Drake. It was frustrating though, because it had been so long since he dated someone still in the closet. And he had never dated anyone who considered themselves straight. Drake was still working on accepting he was with another man, and that he willingly walked into the relationship. In fact, it had been Drake who first suggested it on New Year's Eve, much to JJ's surprise. Drake did that much for them both, JJ realized. Perhaps, JJ thought, that he needed to see if Dee had some free time for a talk too, so JJ could get some pointers on how to be as patient as Dee had been. If anyone had wise advice on how to be patient for love, it was Dee. And look at the payoff Dee received as a reward for his patience. He not only had his Ryo, but they were getting married, were raising Bikky together and had a child of their own creation on the way.

JJ gazed up at Drake. That was what JJ wanted one day. He wanted it all, like Dee. And he wanted it with Drake.

"Drake?" he asked, smiling warmly.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," JJ apologized. He hugged Drake tightly, knowing the moment was about to end. They were nearing the basement.

Drake nodded. "It's okay. I know Dee needs encouragement at times, but it's just hard these days. I can't believe that I have you." He pulled away from the hug gently and lifted JJ's chin with a finger. "And I'm so afraid I'm going to screw this all up anyway."

JJ shook his head. "Drake, please don't think like that." He leaned in to gently kiss his partner.

Drake quickly returned the kiss and pulled away just in time for the elevator doors to open. They stepped out of the elevator, walking in the direction where old case files were kept. The files were what was salvaged from the original building the 27th precinct was in before it was blown up by someone who had a vengeance against Chief Smith. Drake dared to take JJ's hand in his. All sounds of anyone else in the basement were coming from the opposite direction they were walking. "You wanna come over my place tonight then? We can talk more and put in some seriously overdue cuddle time."

"I guess." JJ glanced at Drake. "Just, next time you get upset, tell me. Please? We can't work things out if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Drake shook his head. "That's 'cause I felt like an idiot. I was afraid you'd laugh at me, calling me one too. That's why I didn't say anything. Besides…." He left the thought hanging as he opened the door for the file room, holding it open for JJ to enter.

"Besides?" JJ asked, stopping just inside the room.

"I was kinda hoping you'd realize I was getting pissed off every time you were giving Dee what I thought was too much attention," Drake finished, walking past JJ.

"I did," JJ replied. "But then you kept quiet." He closed the door and locked it. "I thought you were just jealous, and you got over it. I didn't realize this was gnawing at you since… well since I don't know how long. At least Friday, since that didn't go very well."

"I'm sorry about that too. I should have said something then, huh?"

JJ nodded. "Yeah, you should have. Then I wouldn't have been so upset by Saturday night, that I didn't feel like being around a couple in love planning their wedding, and cancel out. Then I wouldn't have missed the fashion show for the women's gowns, darn it!"

Drake laughed at JJ's unique perspective at things. His laughter faded as he looked at JJ seriously. "I thought you were sick?" he asked, which was what JJ told him when he called Drake Saturday night, telling him he was not going over to Ryo and Dee's.

JJ shrugged. "Felt like it, you know…." He dropped his head.

"Aw JJ," Drake sighed, pulling the other man into a hug. "I'm so sorry. You know I don't want to hurt you in any way."

"I know. And I know this is all new to you. And I just have to get used to that. I can't force you into anything you're not ready for. And I'm sorry for pushing you when I shouldn't."

"It's going to also take some time to get over your past with Dee…."

"Past with Dee?" JJ snorted. "I never had anything with Dee. Maybe we were best friends a long time ago, but I blew that when I started to stalk him. Only now we're becoming friends again. I mean, real friends."

Drake nodded. He could not deny what they both knew was the truth. JJ had to accept the truth of the five previous years. It would be good for them all, not only for Drake and JJ, but Dee and Ryo as well. Drake liked what they had fallen into during the last couple of months. He never went to Dee's place before for anything other than a party or a night of drinking, not for dinner and then a quiet night of talking or playing board games, or playing video games with Bikky, watching while JJ assisted Dee and Ryo with wedding planning. Times he would find himself at Ryo's were even more rare. Yet in the last few months, he would find himself with JJ visiting Dee and Ryo in Dee's renovated apartment that the two men now shared. He had always called Dee a close friend, but somehow it felt as if only lately they had actually become real friends.

"You know, Drake," JJ started thoughtfully. "I think part of me always knew that it would never have worked between Dee and me." He looked up at Drake. "The only times I remember being really happy when I transferred here was being out on the job with you. Or the times you would go out of your way to make me happy when I was upset over Dee. And you did. Make me happy again. Very happy."

"That's because Dee was too busy chasing after Ryo. And I was there, picking up the pieces each time. God, JJ, I don't want someone else to have to pick up anything I might do to you."

"Drake, you and Dee are two different people. I won't have pieces to pick up, 'cause you won't break me."

Drake hugged JJ tighter. "I don't want to," he murmured, nuzzling the side of JJ's head. "But I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you while I'm hiding in the shadows. I know that's not what you want. And then there's the wedding. I want to be your partner for it, but I could kill Ryo and Dee for putting us together in the wedding party."

JJ smiled. "We'll be fine at the wedding. You know, the more I think about it, the more they're saying something with that decision of theirs. I'm more certain now that they know more than they're letting on."

Drake looked thoughtful. "Maybe," he admitted.

"Look Drake, we all have to come to terms with who and what we are. I know I have you, so I can wait for everyone else to find out."

Drake smiled gently. "That wedding is going to be hard as hell, you know."

JJ giggled and said, "Maybe I'll just get you drunk at the reception, and kiss you stupid. Then you can always blame the alcohol," JJ teased.

Drake laughed a little. "I'll talk to Ryo whenever he has a chance, and just be patient with me for a while, please." He kissed JJ's cheek.

JJ smiled brightly. "Of course, Drake. What's really important is that I know you love me, and you know I love you. Everything else is just icing. So I can be patient."

Drake kissed JJ lightly, briefly, but allowed his feelings for the other man to come through in the kiss. As they broke apart from the kiss, Drake looked around the room. "Well, I guess we should pick a spot to start with and start hauling boxes up soon, or the others will send out a search party for us." He chuckled. "And you know what they'll be thinking if we find ourselves caught by them locked in here for this long without doing any work." He winked at JJ.

"Too bad they won't believe we're still waiting for that too."

"Maybe Dee and Ryo might. After all, look how long Dee held out…."

"I am not waiting for two years, Drake Parker. If you can't do that by then with a man you're consciously dating, unlike Ryo who was unconsciously dating Dee for that time, then you are insufferably straight and…." JJ let it drop, not wanting to finish the thought.

"You won't, JJ," Drake assured him. "It's taking a little time to work myself up to it, but you know I am not fighting you off. Don't think I don't want to, Jemmy, because I do. I'm just not ready right now. I promise you that we'll do it before the baby is born."

"You better not be making promises you can't keep."

"When have you ever known me to do that with you, huh?"

JJ smiled. "Well then, now I really can't wait for that baby of Dee's to be born!" He laughed gleefully. "Can I have one more kiss before we go?"

Drake nodded. "Sure." He softly kissed JJ again, his arms pulling JJ close to him. JJ clung onto Drake, getting lost in the kiss, as brief as it was. "There's more later tonight. I'm sorry, JJ," he apologized again. "I'll try to talk to you when something is bothering me. Okay?"

"Okay. And I'm sorry for making you feel like second place, when you're all I want and need."

Drake smiled warmly at JJ. "So you'll come over for dinner after work?"

"Of course. And I'll bring some wine." JJ smirked knowingly. "Or I can come over early and cook for you."

Drake laughed. "And here I was wondering who I could call for some decent delivery."

"How does spaghetti sound?" JJ asked.

"How about you make the sauce and I do the pasta?"

"That works." JJ kissed Drake's nose. "Shall we?"

"Yeah. And let's not forget what we came here for," he laughed. Once again, he looked around for a good spot to start. "Oh poor Dee. I just know he's going to end up going through whatever we pull out."

"It's good for him. It's not just paperwork. He'll have to use that detective mind of his to see if there's anything that might help us out on our current case."

"I guess. He'll still see it as more paperwork," Drake chuckled. He pointed to a spot. "I think those are the oldest files. We should start with them, I guess and work our way up."

"Yeah. Good point. You know, we might have to let them air out and dust them a bit before putting them in Dee and Ryo's office. We don't need Dee having a sinus attack because of them."

"Dee doesn't have sinus problems," Drake stated.

"He didn't. But do you hear his sniffling at times lately? He'll have to worry about things like that until the baby is born."

"Oh. Well damn. Being pregnant sounds harder than I first thought."

"Hey Drake… not that I'm expecting you to…. Well, you know, anything like that, but… are you?"

"Nope. Well, I don't think so. I mean I never had a reason to be tested."

"Well, you still might not, but since you're dating a man, perhaps you should go for the test anyway. Just to be safe, ya know, in the future. I know it's the best thing to happen in Dee's life, next to Ryo saying he loved him, but do we want to take that chance of… I mean, you never know how things might go. Ryo said until that one night, he never gave a thought about topping Dee and, well, you don't want to find yourself in Dee's position, right?"

Drake paled a little. "Look, I'm not saying I don't want a family, but not right now. Probably not for a few more years, and then… I don't know. I mean, right now, I can't see myself going through that. But when the right time comes, if by chance you can't, and if I have the equipment, then I guess I'd be willing to…. Aw, I don't know what I'm saying. We need to get ourselves still settled in the relationship first."

"Exactly. Which means we both should be taking precautions to prevent accidents. Just in case, you know."

"Understood. I'll call my doc and see about when I can get an appointment." Before Drake could take a step, JJ was holding a box.

"Ta da!" JJ laughed.

"Gee, you're so efficient," Drake laughed.

"I'm just good like that," JJ replied with a wink. "As you know."

"That's one of the reasons I kept you around at first." He chuckled as he picked up a box next to were JJ removed the one he held.

Somehow, JJ managed to blow Drake a kiss and unlocked the door, before heading back out into the hall.

Smiling at JJ, Drake followed him out.

* * *

A/N: Once again, thank you for the reviews! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! And Happy New Year everyone (I can't believe we're almost in February already!). I have a few very important thank yous to get out here: To Dawn, for once again doing an awesome job at beta. And to DeeRyoFan, for helping out with this chapter overall (and chapter 12!) and Grace Musica for helping me tweak the Drake/JJ scene into something more that I was looking for.

I've been trying to reply individually to anyone who had a question, or just for reviewing. I'm trying to make that a standard practice, especially since FFN makes it pretty easy to do so.

Now for an answer to a question I've been getting a lot lately – Yes, there is a name picked out already for the baby. In fact, the name was picked pretty much just after I started to write the first few chapters of TU I. You might think I'm mean, but the name, hopefully, will not be revealed until the birth (which already has been written in a very rough draft form quite a while back). I am trying my best to pick up the speed of writing this. I hope to have TU II done in the next month or two. Then start on TU III. The baby's birth is tentatively planned for some point just after halfway through that fic. It all depends on the drama before that and how long it will take.

Drake and JJ – I focus on Dee & Ryo. They are the reason I write FAKE. I doubt you'll ever see me write a fic that is not focused on those two, unless it somehow ties in. The Drake and JJ angle – I got roped into it, and sorry to say, I'm regretting it. This chapter had to be one of the hardest to write because I just kept losing interest during the Drake/JJ part of it. I only hope it doesn't reflect in overall quality of the scene. It passed beta, but everyone who reads this will be the real judges. However, that angle has been introduced in the fic, so I just can't drop it. Drake and JJ will be in the background and there will be very few scenes with just the two of them, and if there are, there will be lots of mention of Dee & Ryo. Hopefully, it will still show the development of their relationship. There will definitely not be any lemons with those two. My apologies, but I'll have to admit, I'm just not a Drake/JJ fangirl. I think JJ is adorable and I love him, but not enough to start writing fics on him alone.

I babbled on enough here. I hope to reply to the rest of you who reviewed the last chapter very soon. Once again, thanks so much for the support and reviews. You're all awesome!


	14. Nerves On Edge

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 14 – Nerves on Edge

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Beta by: Dawn – she does a wonderful job of picking things I would pass over. I do go back to fix a part at her suggestion most times, so any other typos/errors are all mine, not hers. She offered for me to send it back, but then that would take extra time to get this out. So I'll risk a couple of typos as long as the big errors are caught. Thanks so much for a wonderful job, Dawn!

Ryo stood up from his desk and stretched. He realized that Dee's eyes wandered from his computer monitor and were settled on him. He smiled at Dee, then went to the doorway of the main CI office.

"Break time," Dee announced, getting up and walking past Ryo to join Ted and Marty in the other office.

"We hardly started working," Ryo said. "And you're on break already?" He shook his head.

"So?" Dee asked, as he sat on the edge of Drake's desk. "We're waiting for Drake and JJ to come back so we can talk more about the Carrier Case anyway."

"Speaking of," Ryo mused, still standing in the doorway between the offices. "Shouldn't they be back by now?"

Dee looked up at Ryo. "Hm, I wonder… maybe they're making use of that one closet," he snickered.

Marty shook his head. "No, not Drake, man."

"So Drake, dude," Dee replied with a laugh.

"Nah," Ryo piped in. "My bet is Drake wouldn't do anything like that around here." Slyly he glanced at Dee. "Unless JJ corners him, that is."

"Well, he cornered me a few times, and I was unwilling," Dee commented. "But Drake doesn't look unwilling to me." He laughed again.

"I tell you, partner of mine, kiss that five goodbye!" Ted crowed triumphantly.

Ryo had moved from the doorway and stood next to Dee. Lightly, he smacked the back of Dee's head. "I meant the times you cornered me, horn dog."

"Oh!" Dee laughed. "Now THAT was fun! And I was VERY willing!"

Marty made a face. "I don't wanna know where Dee cornered you and what you did, because I might be afraid to walk into that room again."

"Yeah, what he said," Ted replied, backing up his partner.

Ryo looked over at the two men with a smirk. "Then stay out of our office."

"Argh!" Marty exclaimed.

Dee snickered, lowering his head. Damn these crazy hormones, he thought.

Ryo gazed at Dee, then did a double take as he noticed Dee's heated cheek. "Wha?" he asked amazed. "Aw baby, you're blushing," he cooed, and kissed Dee's flushed cheek.

Marty shook his head. "What happened to polite, innocent, way too shy to brag about sex in the office – would never even consider having sex in the office Ryo?"

Ryo's smile was all innocence charm. "What?" he asked. "I didn't give any details. I didn't even mention the word sex. It's your minds that came up with that."

Ted snorted and traded an amused look with Marty.

"Seriously. I just said cornered," Ryo further explained. He kissed Dee's cheek again. "But Dee had to go and blow it though." Although he meant that Dee gave them away, he realized how what he said sounded. Suddenly, he was the one blushing.

Marty's eyes opened. "Argh! No details! Please!"

Ted stood behind his desk. "Go away evil Ryo," he remarked.

"I, um, meant… Dee giving us away by his reaction just now, not that he…." He looked down, unable to finish. A memory fluttered through his mind. He lifted his head to look at Dee with hooded eyes. "That was good, wasn't it?" he said softly.

Ted made an exaggerated sign of the cross. "BACK EVIL BEAST!" he demanded.

Dee was trying hard not to burst out laughing. "Yes dear," he simply said to Ryo with a loving smile.

"Hey, did I just hear Dee say, 'Yes dear'?" Ted asked Marty. "Is that how it works in those relationships?"

"You know what I think, Teddy?" Marty asked.

"Oh come on now," Ryo said, amused at the others antics. He moved to stand behind Dee and rested his hand on his partner's belly. "Here's all the details you need," he said. He kissed Dee's forehead, loving the soft yet radiating smile on the other man's face.

Marty pointed to Ryo. "As I was saying. This is like one of those science fiction movies, and they switched bodies. So nice blushing Ryo's mind is now inside of Dee's body, and Dee's evil, cocky mind is now inside of Ryo."

"RYO!" Ted gasped. "Stop it! Aw God, now every time I look at Dee, I'm going to have a not so nice mental image there."

Ryo bite his tongue, catching the words before they left his mouth. He snickered at the thought still in his mind. 'That wasn't all that was inside each of our bodies.'

"Well, I had more than just Ryo's mind in my body and now there's a baby," Dee quipped, amused, almost mirroring Ryo's thoughts.

Marty gazed at Ted. "Dude, grow up. Babies don't fall from the sky after all. And I sure hope you don't get any mental images looking at Darla!"

Ted's eyes opened wide. "I didn't before, but now…."

Marty winked at Ryo and Dee. "Oops," he said.

Ryo and Dee started to laugh.

"Babies come from storks," Ted half muttered. "Yeah, nice ugly storks."

Marty snorted. "I'll make sure to tell Darla you called her that, partner."

"No, not Darla! Not from Dee. From storks. They drop off babies, from the sky. Yeah."

Ryo snickered. "You know when it's been too long since a man got some," he commented to Marty and Dee.

"How so?" Marty asked. "Because the stork needs to look ugly, because if it was pretty, it would be appealing to him?"

Ryo laughed at Marty's reply. "That might work too. I was going to say when he needs to be retaught the birds and the bees lesson."

"That's it!" Ted remarked "Bees. Nice little bumble bees."

"Dude, there ain't no way babies come from bees," Dee laughed. "Trust me on this one."

"Happy thoughts," Ted said, appearing to zone into his own world."

Ryo sat on the desk edge and started to laugh. "Ow, that hurts," he said through his laughter. He had to wipe his eyes, he was laughing so hard.

Dee and Marty exchanged knowing looks. With a chuckle, Dee asked Ted, "What about you and Janet? I thought you looked very friendly on New Year's Eve."

Ted glared at Dee. "Shut up!"

Ryo leaned over to say low in Dee's ear, "Meaning, he didn't score."

Dee raised an eyebrow. "Aw," he exclaimed loudly. "He didn't get any."

Ryo smacked Dee lightly, then leaned against him, laughing.

Ted pouted. "Hey, it wasn't even really a date," he said.

Marty snorted. "Yeah, right. You both showed up together. That sounds like a date to me."

Dee looked amused. "On that note, Drake and JJ showed up together. So that means that was a date for them?"

Marty glared at Dee. "No! Not them. But for people like Ted and Janet, yeah."

"You mean straight people?" Ryo asked.

"No! I mean people who are Ted and Janet. Just go with it and don't interrupt. Okay?"

Dee and Ryo held their hands up as if to surrender.

"Please continue then," Ryo said.

"No, let's go on more about Drake and JJ's New Year Eve date," Ted said.

"Nope," Marty replied. "Besides, you sure made enough of a fuss about it before the party."

"That's 'cause I kept begging her until she said yes to go to the party with me," Ted said, sitting down. "Things were pretty good when we got there, and got better as more booze flowed, but afterward…."

"Oh oh," Marty sighed.

"Got too drunk to perform, Teddy-boy?" Dee asked.

"I wish," Ted muttered. "Nothing like that either. She kissed me on my cheek and told me goodnight. That's the last of it." Ted shrugged.

"How lame of her," Dee remarked. Ryo nodded his head.

"Yeah. I agree," Marty said, clapping a hand on Ted's shoulder. "Sorry, man. That sucks."

"I hear she's been checking out that new guy over in Narc," Ted remarked sullenly.

"Gee, that sounds familiar," Ryo mused.

Dee looked at Ryo. "Huh?"

"She asked me out to coffee when I first got here," Ryo explained.

"Oh right. Humph," Dee remarked.

"What 'humph'?" Ryo asked. "I never took her up on the offer. I kinda found myself with someone else interested in me. And I liked having coffee with him, even if I didn't know what to make of him at first." He smiled at Dee.

They heard the door open and the four looked over to find Drake balancing a box while he held the door open, stepping aside for JJ to squeeze through with his own box.

As JJ approached his desk, he ran into the corner of the desk. "OW!" he cried out.

"Dude, watch it," Dee said, looking to see if JJ was okay.

Ryo had already jumped up to steady JJ. "Hey, you okay?" he asked. He took the box from JJ and set it down on the desk.

"Every day, the same old corner of the same old desk," Marty chuckled.

"JJ, you okay?" Drake asked, putting down the box he carried on his own desk, then came over to JJ and Ryo.

JJ pouted at Marty, rubbing the sore spot. "Doesn't make it less painful. Owie."

Ryo shook his head. "Someone should just scratch JJ's initials on this beast," he said, indicating the desk.

"More like the desk should scratch its initials on JJ's hipbone," Marty snickered.

Dee giggled at the conversation.

"Hm?" Ryo mused, going back to Dee. "Not sure I like that line of thought there."

"Watch it, Marty, or I'll make you kiss it better," JJ threatened.

Dee looked up at Ryo in question. "Why not?" he asked.

Ryo started to poke Dee in different places. "Because then you'll have to have JJ's name here, and here, oh and here." The poking turned to tickling.

"Hey!" Dee laughed, squirming.

"That's what you got a partner for," Marty said to JJ. "Me not your partner. Me Ted's partner. Entiendes?"

"Marty, I'd make you kiss it, because if that's what my partner wants, then that's what he'll get," Drake remarked.

"Good God, no!" JJ exclaimed.

Drake laughed.

"Hey guys, stop with the scary mental images, huh?" Ted snapped.

"You know, Tedster, what they say about denial?" Ryo asked.

Marty and Dee joined Drake's laughter.

"You wanna kiss it better, Teddy?" Marty asked, sugary sweet. "I mean, it's probably the closest thing to getting some intercourse as you can get lately."

JJ ducked behind Drake. "Help! No one is kissing my hip bone better but my… Mama!" he exclaimed, barely catching himself before he said, "Drake."

Ryo laughed at JJ.

"Nice save," Dee commented low for only Ryo to hear.

Ted made a face. "I'm going to, um, pretend I smoke," he announced, going over to where his coat hung.

"Well, at least you remembered to grab your coat," Marty observed.

"I'd love to say I'd join you, but," Dee said, and patted his bump gently. "Sorry, but I'll pass."

Ryo smirked. He leaned up to kiss Dee gently on the cheek. "Wait up, Ted. I'll join you, since you're just pretending." He laughed, then started to gently pet Dee's belly.

Dee found himself leaning against Ryo, sighing happily. He had no idea why, but a 'baby rub' from Ryo always melted him into goo.

"Scary mental image!" Ted exclaimed.

Marty snickered. "I think it's cute."

"At this rate, we're never gonna get any work done," JJ sighed.

Drake looked at Ted, who stood by the door, wearing his coat, then to the other three. "What did we miss?"

Ryo laughed. "We'll tell you later."

"Trust me, Drake, you don't really want to know," Marty replied.

Ted peered suspiciously at Drake, then at JJ. "Um, you two didn't go near any closets, did you?"

"Wha?" Drake exclaimed.

Ted laughed. "Never mind. Look, I do need some fresh air. I think I ate to much for lunch."

"I really needed the laugh," Dee said, winking at Ted. "Thanks, man."

"Anytime," Ted said. He looked over to Marty. "But seriously, man, you're so going to owe me a fiver." He winked and slipped out of the office.

Dee shook his head. "So we start going through the files?" he asked.

"Nope. You go back to your pile of paperwork, while we take these somewhere to wipe them off. Then you can touch them," Ryo stated. "There's enough dust here that I'm surprised you didn't start sniffling already."

"Not yet, but I feel it. Yeah, okay. Give me a yell when you're ready. Later."

The other men nodded and watched as Dee went back into the other office.

Later that afternoon, Drake entered their office. "Dee," he called out. "Your carriage awaits you."

Dee looked up from his work, rubbing his eyes. "My what? Oh. Thanks. I'll be ready in a minute."

Ryo looked up from his own work and gazed at Dee in concern. "Are you okay? You should have taken a nap earlier, like I suggested."

"I'm fine. As soon as I step away from the computer for a while," Dee replied, standing up to stretch.

"We have an unmarked car for you and Ryo to ride in," Drake explained. "In case he doesn't get a chance to tell you when you get there, the Commissioner said that when he feels the press conference should come to a close, he's going to step in to make the closing comments. That could be because the questioning is getting stupid, or it's upsetting you, or you just start looking like you had enough for the day."

Dee frowned a little. "So he's making me do this, but can't trust me to make a parting comment?" he asked.

Ryo gazed at Dee. "He's the one who called for the press conference, and he is in charge of this precinct. It's just protocol that it ends with a few extra comments from him. You know that Dee."

Dee looked confused. "Huh? Oh, yeah, right." He chuckled, somewhat embarrassed. "I don't know how I forgot that."

"There's that," Drake said,. "But in this particular case, he's hoping his closing statement will be long enough that a string of unmarked cars will leave from the underground parking area, with you in one of them, and get you out of the area and home without any chances of being followed."

Ryo suddenly felt as if someone kicked him in his stomach. "F-followed?" he asked, gripping the desk. "As in… our killer?"

Drake shrugged. "It's just a precaution. After all, Dee is putting himself on television, in his condition, as a detective. Rose doesn't want to take any chances of the killer finding out where it's being held and trying to make a move. Highly unlikely, though Ryo. Because all our victims were alone when they were abducted, as far as we could tell."

Ryo stood up, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "As far as we could tell. Excuse me," he started out of the office to the hallway. "Dee, stay here. I won't be long." He rushed out the door, heading for the men's room.

Dee sighed. "I guess he wasn't thinking about that." He shook his head and said mostly to himself, "Of course he didn't. If he did, he'd have never allowed me to do this."

"Look, get yourself ready to leave, and grab Ryo's things too," Drake said. "I'll go make sure he's okay."

Dee nodded. "Thanks." He looked up in time to see Sgt. Carey standing by the door. "I guess you want to give me another run through?"

"Of course, while we get you ready for the cameras."

Drake shook his head. "Good luck, Dee. I'll go get Ryo."

On the way out, Drake met up with Marty. "Hey, what's going on?" Marty asked. "Was that Ryo that went running down the hall?"

Drake nodded. "Yeah. Seems Ryo didn't think this through until just now."

"Ahhh," Marty remarked. "I gotcha. Hey, tell you what. Being I've been there, done that with anxiety over being a daddy to be, how about I go to Ryo and you make sure Dee's ready to leave when the word's given."

"You know, great idea. Good luck, pal." Drake slapped Marty on the shoulder, and watched for a moment as Marty made his way to the men's room, before going back into the office.

When Marty entered the men's room, Ryo was leaning over a sink, splashing his face with water. Marty couldn't help noticed Ryo was shaking a little.

Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Ryo looked up. "Oh, hey there." He grabbed a paper towel to dry his face. He hoped Marty did not notice anything odd about him.

Marty stopped next to Ryo. "You all right? From what I've seen, you were looking pretty pale there when you left the office. Actually, you still do."

Ryo shook his head, knowing he could not lie to Marty. "I just never thought about Dee being targeted for his press conference today." He hung his head. "I don't know how I didn't think of that."

"Don't stress yourself over it, Ryo. You shouldn't kick yourself for not thinking about everything. As long as someone did to assure Dee is safe, it's all good."

Ryo shook his head stubbornly. "It still doesn't change the fact that he will a target now."

Marty put a big hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Look, as far as we know, our vics were alone at the time of abduction. So as long as Dee isn't alone in the streets, he'll be fine."

"I know, but…." Ryo took a deep breath, trying not to give into panic again. "Dammit, Marty. He's my husband! Almost husband. I should have been looking out for him on that too!"

Marty let out a heavy sigh. "I can't say I know how you feel at the scale you're at. Crap, I'll admit I don't know what to do. But, Ryo, I do know about the anxiety of worry while Darla was pregnant. So I can relate somewhat. That can drive a man crazy already. But you can't let it get to you, Ryo. It's not good for you, and it won't be good for Dee." He patted Ryo's shoulder. "I also know this much too," he smiled at Ryo, "I might actually feel sorry for the son of a bitch who tries to get past you to Dee. Of course, he'd have to get past the rest of us first before he could reach you."

Ryo managed a shaky little laugh. "Yeah, huh?" Marty noticed Ryo was still shaking. When Ryo noticed the other man's study of him, he shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm… so terrified," Ryo found himself admitting.

"We're all going to do our part in helping you keep Dee safe, buddy." He tightened his grip on Ryo's shoulder. "You're not alone."

Ryo nodded. After he took a deep breath, he smiled and gave Marty a big hug. "Thanks, Marty."

Marty laughed and hugged him back. "No problem. Hey, you know, if you find you need to talk about _anything_, I'm here, you know. That includes griping about Dee's mood swings and stuff like that. I've survived mood swings three times. I'd like to think I can help others."

Ryo's smile got brighter. "I'm sure you could relate to a lot of my stuff."

Marty laughed. "Of course I could. Hell, Ryo, preggo hormones are preggo hormones, from what I've seen of Dee at times. So hell, don't be afraid to call me at 2:30 am to bitch about having to go out and get Dee something silly because he's craving it and it's not in the house."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "God, I know. We've been stocking up on milk and yogurt Pocky ever since his first 3 am craving for it."

Marty laughed. "That's what happens when you get some of your Japanese blood filtering through him." He slapped Ryo on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Look, for what it's worth, we have it all planned out to confuse our killer if he tries to follow you guys home tonight. He'll never find you. Okay?

"Okay," Ryo replied with a nod.

"Pocky," Marty mused with a chuckle.

"I have my dear aunt to blame for giving Dee ideas on that," Ryo said. "And my aunt blames my mom." Ryo rolled his eyes. "Dee better not try to blame my mom, even if in a way, it is her fault." He grinned at Marty.

"So tell me, since this is Dee, does he crave sushi too?" Marty asked, realizing the conversation was helping Ryo relax some. "Must suck to deal with someone craving something they can't eat."

Ryo laughed, rolling his eyes again. "Dee craved sushi at weird times _before_ he got pregnant. I've been trying to get him to eat more onigiri. It seems to work a little."

Marty shook his head. "I believe that about Dee before pregnancy. The man loves that stuff. Too bad he didn't lose the taste for it to make things easier."

Ryo shrugged. "We're doing the best we can. I think the seaweed in the onigiri seem to work. And there are some items that aren't raw fish that he can have in moderation."

"I'll tell you this," Marty said. "Before she was pregnant, Darla hated sushi, but each time she was pregnant, she started to bitch and moan about wanting it and not being able to have it. Go figure. I'll have to remember that just in case." He winked and lightly punched Ryo's shoulder. "Thanks for the good tip, Rookie Papa."

Ryo laughed at Marty's comment, then smiled. "It's always impossible when they crave things they can't have. I've already promised him a whole tray of sushi when he has the baby."

"Well, knowing Dee, by the time that baby is born, you better include some good sake or plum wine to drink it down with. Just because he finally can."

"I may be new with dealing with this 24/7, but I do have my Aunt Elena to thank for all the helpful tips. And Rick, who survived Elena being pregnant twice. It was the advice my cousins in Japan gave my dad when Mom was pregnant with me. When I spoke to my grandmother in Japan recently, she said that she'll have my cousins send me recipes of stuff Dee can eat during the pregnancy. So, while it's not sushi, maybe just having Japanese food that's good for him might soothe him somewhat. Or so I'm hoping. But having fish once in a while is okay, as long as it's cooked and doesn't have too much Mercury in it. Hmm… I think I'm make some broiled miso trout for Dee tonight when we finally get home. And he's allowed to eat oysters, as long as they're well cooked. They're good in helping keep his iron level up."

Marty smiled at Ryo. "You see? You're such a good husband already, Ryo. That ceremony you're planning is just a formality."

Ryo gave Marty a big grin. "Yeah, I know. Dee's a good husband too."

"I'm sure he is. I do know that he loves you more than anything. Dee changed a lot from before you got here, and I can see he has no regrets."

"I know." Ryo's smile got brighter again. "He's having our baby."

"Yeah, that he is. That says enough right there. And wonder of wonders, he seems to enjoy it more often than not." Marty checked his watch. "You okay now? We should be joining everyone and get Dee down to the car."

Ryo nodded. "I'm okay enough. No way I'm going to hide in here while he goes off to that press conference." Ryo turned on the sink to quickly rinse his face again, and grabbed a paper towel to dry it.

"Just stick close to Dee, and we won't be far from you two all night until you're locking your apartment door. Okay?"

"Yeah," Ryo said with a nod. He took a deep breath. "Oh well. Here we go."

"Yup. Come on, pally, and let's meet up with the others. Or else Dee might think we ran off together." He winked at Ryo and turned to open the door for them, holding it for Ryo to pass.

"Hey Marty, thanks."

"No problem, Ryo."

Ryo stood a few feet behind Dee for the press conference. He knew each time the TV cameras pulled back from close-ups of Dee, he most likely ended up in a shot. The same with all the photographers. Dee, seemed unfazed of the cameras as he fielded questions from the press. There was a moment of initial anxiety before hand, but once the importance of what Dee had to do struck him, all fears were gone. The passion for his work came through as he spoke, along with his passion of having a baby. Ryo could tell from looking out at the sea of faces before them, that Dee was making points. He had the majority of the press behind him. Most likely by the end of the night, he'd also have everyone who watched it, or read the articles, on his side too.

Despite Ryo's misgivings for Dee's safety, he was proud of his husband-to-be. He also knew he could not face off Dee later and go into a snit about Dee's knowing the implications but not sharing them with Ryo. Because Ryo knew if it was him, instead of Dee, he'd have done the same thing, no matter what Dee thought of it. It still unsettled him that he'd have to be more careful than ever to assure whoever was behind the killings did not get to Dee. That was his first and foremost task that he assigned to himself.

As Dee spoke, Ryo noted that Dee looked more vibrant while on duty than he had in weeks. It was easy for Ryo to guess that Dee was currently feeling far from useless, and he was thriving on it.

Rose stood off to Dee's side, just out of camera range next to Sgt. Carey, looking impressed with the man who was speaking. Lined up against the wall, and flanking Ryo, were the other four men that made up their unit. Surrounding the platform were cops from the 27th. Ryo was not surprised when he first looked around at the various reporters and camera people, that his Uncle Rick and Aunt Elena were there, covering the press conference for their own work, yet looking very proud of Dee.

Rose cleared his throat and stepped up to the podium. He placed a hand on Dee's shoulder and spoke before the detective could field another question.

"Detective Laytner has had a long day now, but it was important to him to be here today," Rose spoke to the press gathering. "I think we allowed Detective Laytner to stand up here long enough, and we seem to have answered all questions. So perhaps it's best to allow him to finally get off his feet and relax."

A murmur of assent went around the room, but the flashes from the cameras increased. Only Ryo seemed to notice the small sigh of relief from Dee. He moved from his place to stand next to Dee, placing his hand around the taller man's arm.

"I have just one more very important question," a reporter called out. "Detective Laytner, are you hoping for a girl or a boy?"

Laughter went out across the room as Dee looked out at who asked. He smiled and replied, "I just want a healthy baby."

"No seriously. I mean, I believe you want a healthy baby, but you got to have a preference."

Dee looked back at Ryo and grinned, before looking over to the woman asking the question. "My fiancé keeps telling me he swears I'm leaning toward a girl. Since he sometimes knows me better than I know myself, that's your answer." He smiled out at the reporter, who smiled back at him, amidst laughter and more photos being taken.

"Everyone, let's show Detective Laytner our appreciation for the superb job he has done in bringing light to this atrocious hate crime," Rose continued.

Applause started. Dee grinned in his most charming way and leaned toward the mic. "Thank you, everyone."

"That's enough, Dee," Ryo spoke low, gently pulling his partner from the podium and toward the back. "You were great, baby!"

"It just felt good to feel useful again," Dee said with a tired grin.

Rose started on his closing statement as Ryo continued to hold onto Dee's arm.

"I know you want to sit," Ryo stated, his hold now becoming support, "but that has to wait until we get you in the car. If you need, I'm here. Okay, Dee?"

"Yeah fine. I haven't been on my feet for this long straight in I don't know how long," Dee sighed.

"Because you shouldn't be," Ryo remarked, noting with satisfaction that Drake and JJ took up the other side of Dee, ready to also give a hand, while Ted and Marty closed in behind them. They were being escorted by the uniform cops, through a corridor leading to an elevator that would take them to the underground parking garage.

Ryo also noticed Diana, along with several FBI agents standing in the corridor. When they entered the elevator, Diana joined them.

She leaned up and kissed Dee's cheek. "You were wonderful," she gushed.

"Hey!" Ryo complained. "I wanted to be the first one to do that."

"Well, if all you were planning to do was kiss my cheek," Dee remarked with a grin.

"You…" Ryo shifted to put his arms around Dee's neck and kissed him hard on his mouth. "I'm so proud of you. You did good tonight."

Dee was smiling brightly. "Yeah, I did, huh?" He had his arms around Ryo and kissed him back. "Did you see Elena and Rick out there?"

"Yeah. I shouldn't be surprised they came, even if they didn't mention anything to us," Ryo replied.

"It is their job," Dee said.

"Yeah. And much more," Ryo agreed.

"I thought you were fabulous, Dee," JJ gushed. "I'll bet you'll have any decent person in New York City eating out of your hands now."

"If nothing else, it might encourage people who might have seen even a small thing to finally step up and let us find our perp," Drake added. "Great work, Dee."

"Thanks, everyone."

The elevator doors opened and only then Dee realized they had gone up a couple of floors. "What?" he asked.

"Relax," Ryo assured him.

Hernandez and Feguson joined them in the elevator, dressed in similar colors and style of what Dee and Ryo were wearing. Hernandez was taller than Ferguson with the same coloring as Dee, if not slightly darker, with dark hair, while Ferguson was ivory toned with light brownish hair. Up close in the light, it would be obvious they were not Ryo and Dee, but in a car in the fading sunlight, the difference would not be so quickly noticed.

"Oh," Dee remarked.

"They're going out first," Diana instructed. "You and Ryo get to duck in an unmarked car for a few blocks going back to the precinct. From there, you'll get your ride home. Our bait is going to take a nice ride into Brooklyn, then Queens and then back again to end up in Staten Island. If anyone would attempt to follow them, and still manages to hang on, they'll realize it's a dead end, while you and Ryo will be long home."

The elevator was moving again as Diana spoke, and the doors opened in the garage.

"Okay, quickly, everyone into position. Dee, Ryo, just allow yourselves to be guided," Diana said.

Inside the garage were more cops and agents, and basically created a chaotic scene, obviously choreographed. Before Dee and Ryo knew it, they were in the backseat of an unmarked car, driven by two detectives from the Hate Crimes Bureau, and ducking low. The car waited a few minutes, obviously allowing the lead cars to leave, along with the decoy car, and then they were moving.

Ryo continued to stay low, his body slightly covering Dee's. He had his arms around Dee, holding him tight. "Don't move, sweetheart and we'll be safely home before you know it," he murmured into the other's ear. He knew Dee was uncomfortable in that position. He softly kissed the dark hair, affirming that while he made their dinner, he would make sure Dee was settled in a nice warm bath to soothe any aching muscles. Then dinner in bed for that night.

**February 21, 2006**

Ryo stood with Dee on E. 60th Street, just outside Serendipity's. Dee was currently picking at his coat as if removing invisible threads. Ryo smiled when he caught Dee's attention, taking his hand and squeezing it. "You ready to meet Grandma?" he asked.

Dee shrugged, looking slightly nervous. "I'm not too sure. I hardly know her." He sighed heavily. "She all but ignored me for most of your cousin's wedding last year."

Ryo reached up to kiss Dee on his nose. "It'll be fine. She'll love you." He smiled up at Dee again.

"Well, here's hoping she's like Lady Chantrel then." He managed to give Ryo a little smile. "You know, having a soft spot for cute pregnant people."

Ryo squeezed Dee's hand again, as he chuckled. He lightly kissed his fiancé's lips. "Let's go inside and wait for her. Okay, Dee?"

As Ryo opened the door to the legendary restaurant that was known to serve sundaes and desserts to the rich and famous, Dee commented, "At least she picked a place known for their sweets."

Ryo smiled as he followed Dee through the door. He stood at his partner's side as they walked up to the front counter. "There's a reason for that," he replied, reaching to rub Dee's belly.

Dee giggled a little, then allowed Ryo to do all the talking. Within a minute, they were being taken to their table. "I'm guessing she's a nice old lady married to a grouch, by what I get from you," he said as they stood at their table.

Ryo thanked the host, then looked up at Dee. "Yes, yes. She'll probably fawn all over you." He pulled the chair away from the table for Dee and smiled, watching Dee take his coat off.

"If I don't make a fool of myself," Dee remarked. He sat down as Ryo took his coat. "You're such a gentleman," he said with a wink.

"Of course," Ryo stated, kissing the top of Dee's head. "You _are_ carrying our baby." He neatly placed their coats on the chair next to him and sat down next to Dee, smiling. He took Dee's hands, his smile growing warmer.

Dee hardly took notice of the few celebrities dining with their families. He had no interest in gazing at them. Not when he had Ryo to look at. Ryo, who was intimately holding his hands on the table for all to see. There was no prouder man than Ryo as Dee's pregnancy became more noticeable. Dee was a very happy man.

They did not notice when Ryo's grandmother entered and approached their table, being escorted by the host.

"I feel sorry for the first sucker who won't give me a seat on the subway." He laughed softly.

Ryo glanced up and noticed his grandmother nearing their table. He let go of Dee's hands, and with his right hand, waved to his grandmother. "I'll give up my seat for you," he answered Dee.

Estelle MacLean waved back with a smile. Her eyes were on Ryo as she came over to the table.

"And if we both don't have seats?" Dee countered with a knowing grin.

"Well…." Ryo gave Dee a sheepish grin. "I'd carry you." He squeezed Dee's hands once more before standing up to greet his grandmother.

"Randy, my darling!" Estelle greeted. "It's so wonderful to see you again." She hugged him tightly. She was a tiny woman, making Ryo tower over her thin, fragile frame. Her hair, long gone silver, was pulled up in a stylish chignon.

As Dee watched them, he could not help notice that as frail as she appeared, there was also a strength about her. She seemed almost regal to Dee in the way she carried herself. He noticed her eyes were grayish-blue. He quickly knew her pants suit cost more than he could imagine spending on clothes. He also saw enough similarities in her face to see Ryo was her grandson.

"Hello Grandma," Ryo greeted, kissing her cheek. "You're looking well."

His grandmother grinned up to him. "Especially for a poor woman being put through the ringer, if you listen to your grandfather." She rolled his eyes. "That let that old windbag get to you, Randy. I'm working on him."

Ryo laughed and hugged her again. "Then he doesn't have a chance." He winked roguishly at his grandmother.

She pulled away until she was arms' length and looked Ryo up and down. "Oh my baby boy is all grown up now," she gushed. "You look great!" Still smiling, she looked at Dee, who was starting to stand up to greet her. "Sit, sit, sit," she insisted, waving her hand toward Dee to make him stay seated. She walked a few steps to stand next to Dee.

With his arm around his grandmother's waist, Ryo said, "Grandma, this is Dee." He put his free hand on Dee's shoulder.

She held her hand out to Dee to shake. "We met very briefly at Shandi's wedding last year," she recalled. Her eyes gazed down at Dee. "And look at you, darling boy! Already showing that baby!"

Blushing slightly from the attention, Dee took her hand and kissed it. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said.

Estelle hugged Ryo again. "Oh, you got yourself quite a handsome one there. And so charming too." She took Ryo's hand. "I'm so happy for you, Randy."

Ryo smiled, his eyes going to Dee. "Isn't he?" He stroked Dee's dark hair before releasing his grandmother and pull out the remaining chair for her.

Estelle handed Ryo her coat and sat down. "Thank you, Randy. You're still the charmer too."

Ryo smiled as he set her coat with his and Dee's. "I had a good teacher, Grandma," he said as he sat down in his seat. He took Dee's hand in his and squeezed it.

"Ah, and I see you also learned how to flatter quite well too," Estelle said, a teasing glint in her pale eyes. "Now," she announced, picking up a menu from the table, "order up, Dee. Whatever you and that baby of yours want, it's yours, darling."

Dee was smiling as he looked over his own menu. His eyes lighted up as he got to the sundae section. Ryo chuckled softly as he stroked the back of Dee's hand softly. Instead of picking up his menu, he glanced at Dee's. Estelle glanced up from her menu and could not help but smile as she saw how happy her eldest grandson was.

Estelle laughed when she noticed Dee's eyes as he studied his menu. "I was that way too when I was having your father," she said to Ryo. She winked slyly at him, making her grandson laugh. "I had Franklin take me here all the time for both Frankie and Elena. They also do have fabulous food, but I guess you both already had lunch? Hopefully you did. I would have made it earlier, but I had a dress fitting for your wedding." She smiled. "It took me forever to settle on the perfect dress for my eldest grandson's wedding. But Dee, you're eating right, aren't you? I heard all about that horrid episode the other week. You need to keep yourself well."

"Dee ate, Grandma," Ryo said with a smile that reached his eyes. He knew his grandmother enough to know she was all for the marriage and the upcoming baby. He was glad. He saw his grandmother infrequently, but he had no reason not to love her. His relationship with her was unlike that with his grandfather, who every time they spoke, they bickered. It usually wasn't as amusing as when Dee and Bikky bickered most of time either.

A waitress came over to the table. "Are you ready to order?" she asked them politely.

Ryo nudged Dee slightly. "Dear? Know what you want?"

"Uhh," was the only reply from Dee as he continued to stare at his menu, trying to make up his mind.

Ryo chuckled and looked up at the waitress. "I think we need a few moments more, I'm afraid."

Estelle laughed. "Try the Forbidden Broadway, Dee," she suggested with an impish, knowing grin. "I think I'm going to have one myself for the special occasion."

"I think I'll go for that, Mrs. MacLean," Dee agreed. He read the contents of the sundae, which included chocolate blackout cake, 3 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. "Gee, I'm glad I don't feel the baby kick yet, because after one of those, she'll be running like a hamster in a wheel."

Estelle laughed. "I remember that feeling too. Randy, do you know what you want?"

Ryo grinned like a kid up to no good. "That sounds good. I think we'll make it three then."

"Delightful," Estelle laughed. It was obvious that Dee was good for Ryo and it made her like the dark haired detective even more. "You heard them, dearie," she stated to the waitress. "And I'll have a Perrier. What would you boys like to drink?"

"Just some water for now, please," Dee said. "Although I'll probably be wanting some peppermint tea later."

"One Evian for now and peppermint tea when the sweetheart is almost finished with his sundae," Estelle ordered. She looked at Ryo.

"Iced coffee, please," Ryo told the waitress.

"Would you like that sweetened or unsweetened?" the waitress asked him.

"Which do you like?" Ryo asked.

The waitress laughed. "I prefer tea," she replied with a sly wink.

"Oh now, don't go flirting with my grandson there," Estelle commented. "He's practically a married man. With a darling baby on the way."

"Grandmother!" Ryo exclaimed, as Dee laughed.

"She was," Estelle replied.

"She was," Dee repeated with a wink at the waitress.

"I'll have it unsweetened, please," Ryo stated, once again squeezing Dee's hand.

"Unsweetened coming up." The waitress wrote down Ryo's request with a sigh and left the table. "Mama keeps telling me I'll never hook up with any rich handsome boys around here," she muttered under her breath.

"Now on the subject of almost married," Estelle said, her attention on the two men. Elena tells me your wedding plans are coming along nicely. From what I've heard, it's going to be a charming event."

"Well, Dee has a great eye for things, and with Elena, well, 'helping', things are happening sooner than we thought. We'll actually be able to have everything we want by the date of the wedding."

"Plus Elena found us a wonderful wedding coordinator, who seems to do miracles in making things happen last minute," Dee added.

"And the ceremony in a rooftop atrium. That sounds fabulous. It should be truly elegant considering the time you settled on. I can't wait for the big day to arrive," Estelle remarked, excited.

"Neither can we," Dee said.

"It's going to be beautiful," Ryo said, smiling at Dee.

Estelle took Ryo and Dee's hands in hers and squeezed them. She leaned toward Dee. "You've done wonders for my little Randy, Dee. He's blossomed so much. Thank you, darling. And before I forget, it's Grandma, not Mrs. MacLean. Got it? Why, you're family now, Dee."

Ryo was beaming as he listened to his grandmother speak to Dee.

Dee chuckled. "Thank you… Grandma. I feel like I'm the one blossoming."

"You're not blossoming," Ryo laughed. "You're seeding." He grinned playfully at Dee.

Estelle laughed. "Oh, I would say that Dee is blooming."

"Yeah, he is," Ryo replied softly, squeezing Dee's hand again.

Dee sat, looking half embarrassed, half overjoyed at the talk about him. Especially hearing it come from Ryo's grandmother. It meant a lot to Ryo, so it meant just as much to Dee.

"Now Dee, we do have some members of our family who still live in the dark ages. Just don't let them get to you when you meet the family on Saturday," Estelle said to Dee.

Ryo looked at his grandmother confused. "What about Saturday? Elena told us she's just taking us out to eat."

Estelle smiled gracefully. "She is. We rented out a lovely place for Saturday in your honor. A MacLean can't be married without an engagement party. Or a wedding shower. But being that your wedding is so near, Elena and I decided to combine the two."

Ryo seemed to start to sweat as he glanced nervously at Dee. "Grandma," he warned.

"Now now. It's already taken care of. We have the venue booked, the menu planned, the invitations our with RSVPs returned. I do believe you'll love the place too."

Dee gulped, starting to sweat himself, faced with the prospect of dealing with rich opulence and richer future-in-laws.

During the pause in conversation the waitress returned with their drinks. "Your sundaes will be ready in a few minutes." She took one look at the sullen faces on the two men and hurried off.

"Um, where exactly is this venue?" Ryo asked.

"We wanted it to be close to the homestead, so it will be held on Long Island," Estelle explained, not one bit unruffled. "Elena and I did a little research and came across quite a lovely place. In fact, Elena remembers that your mom and dad would like to go there. It's called Land's End in Sayville." She smiled at the two men.

Dee's jaw dropped for a moment, then he started to smile. "Sayville, huh?" He squeezed Ryo's hand assuredly. "I know of Land's End."

Ryo looked at Dee and was visibly relieved. "Okay. I guess it sounds good. Am I right, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "Very much. We'll deal." He smiled at Ryo and Estelle.

Ryo glanced at his grandmother. "You will warn those old dinosaurs to behave themselves, right, Grandma? I don't want Dee getting upset." He grinned wickedly at her. "Or me. I get just as high strung as Dee now."

Dee laughed. "It's true!"

"A few might make remarks here and there, but then they'll have to deal with me." She grinned back at Ryo. "Don't worry. Once they find out that I'm on Dee's side, no one will dare cross us. And actually, quite a few of your cousins are very excited. It's the old coots we'll stick in a far corner. Elena said there's a lovely window that they could watch the ferries go by." She smiled wickedly.

Dee laughed, patting Ryo's hand. "Loaded with fairies," he joked. "Seriously, I've passed that place going to catch the ferries to Fire Island, but never had the opportunity to go inside."

"You'll love it, Dee. And Elena made sure that it's decorated in your wedding colors," Estelle said. "Even the invitations were. And the favors. She has quite the knack for pulling together a nice party for 50 or so people."

Ryo was smiling. "Dad took me there once with Mom," he said. "I was younger, but from what I remember, I think you'll like it, Dee." His smile turned warm as he gazed at Dee.

"Well, Land's End, huh?" Dee mused. He smiled happily at Estelle. "Thank you." His gratitude was heartfelt. By picking the place they had for the engagement party, Estelle showed Dee that she was approving of his upcoming marriage to her grandson, even if he was another man.

Estelle reached out to grab his hand in her thin bony one. "It's no problem. I'm just so happy Randy found someone to settle down and spend the rest of his life with. And a baby on the way too! I'm just so happy."

"You're just happy you have a great-grandbaby to spoil," Ryo teased her.

"Of course. I'm also thankful that I am able to be around for this glorious time."

Ryo hugged his grandmother. "I'm glad, too, Grandma. But you need to remember to leave some for Obasan and the crazies from Mom's family. Okay?"

"Randy, sweetheart, that baby will have plenty of love, I can assure you."

Ryo couldn't help smiling brighter, happy that he had his grandmother on their side.

"Speaking of, have you heard from your Obasan lately? Does she know about all these delightful things happening in your life?"

"Yes, she does. I called her and told her everything and we sent invitations to everyone over there in Japan. Since then, she's been calling almost every day asking for 'baby updates'."

Dee laughed. "Including putting the receiver to my belly," he added. "This baby is going to be born bi-lingual," he said, laughing more.

Ryo and Estelle laughed with Dee.

"Really? Now that sounds like an wonderful idea," Estelle said to Dee. "Be prepared, sweetling."

"Oh…" Dee started to chuckle. He looked down, placing a hand on his bump. "You hear that, Chibi? You'll get to hear your other great-grandma talking to you on the phone."

"Aww, isn't he just most darling," Estelle gushed, hands to her face. She leaned over to pat Dee's swell. "Of course I want to speak to you, little one."

Ryo was glowing with how things were proceeding with the little get together. "Obasan is also on the RSVP list for the wedding, along with a few others from the family there."

"That's good news, Randy. I'm sure you'll be thrilled to have her in for your wedding. I know after she buried your mom, she swore never to come back to New York. That she changed her mind for your wedding, it's delightful news. If they want, I can let them stay at the summer place while they're here. And if they want a hotel in the city the day of the wedding, that could be arranged too. You grandfather and I are planning on staying in the city from the day before the wedding until the day after."

"Thank you, Grandma, but Obasan said she already has reservations at some hotel around here that caters to Japanese tourists. They'll be coming in during the week before the wedding and staying on for some sightseeing while we go on our honeymoon. Some of my cousins have never been to America before, you know. But if you two want to fight over the hotel bill, be my guest."

"I'll have to give her a call soon then," Estelle said.

Dee sighed, then chuckled. "I'm just hoping that a few family members don't mean filling an entire 747 themselves."

"I'm hoping that too, Dee," Ryo laughed.

"Once, I had a friend from Japan come to visit New York. I went to Kennedy to pick her up, and the entire flight was all her friends also visiting New York," Dee explained, then laughed at the memory.

Estelle chuckled. "Yes, Randy's mom's people are very well known for that. In fact," she laughed, shaking her head, "they did do that for his mom's wedding. Raina did not know what to do about it, but I managed to get it to all work out, and everyone enjoyed themselves at the wedding."

Ryo nodded. "Mom told me that when I was looking through her wedding album one time. What was it? 50? 60?" To Dee, he explained, "The whole family, plus close family friends decided at the last minute that they _had_ to see the wedding. That's why we're going to give that extra head count when we call in our final numbers to the caterer, Dee. Then again they might be kind, since they all know there's a baby on the way, and let us know for sure exactly how many are coming before then."

"I'm glad we opted for the buffet spread, instead of sit down meal," Dee remarked. "Gives us room for extras without losing too much on the money putting in extras that don't show."

"Now you don't be worrying over details like money, Dee," Estelle stated. "I have everything under control. Which reminds me, you're going on a honeymoon, yes?"

"Yes," Dee replied. "We're thinking about the Caribbean for a week."

"You're going to need clothes to wear and be comfortable in, Dee," Estelle pointed out. "So go out and buy _everything_ you think you'll need. Honeymoon clothes are part of the wedding budget." She looked at Ryo pointedly. "Do you understand me, Randy?"

Ryo nodded with a huge grin. "Yes, ma'am. I understand. Take Dee shopping for new Carrier clothes he'll need for the honeymoon." He winked at Dee. "I was going to take Dee shopping tomorrow anyway because we only just started to shop for him."

"That's fine, Randy. Just remember honeymoon. And remember what that involved when your cousins got married."

"Thank you, Grandma."

"My gracious, this is going to be such a lovely wedding," Estelle said. "I'm so glad you went for a weekend event. It will give those from out of town more to look forward to. And I have a special surprise for you both on the evening of your wedding."

"Oh oh," Ryo remarked.

Estelle patted Ryo's hand. "Now don't you worry. You'll love it. And you'll have to wait until then, or it won't be a surprise. It's from your grandfather too, even if he doesn't know it yet."

Dee decided he did not want to think too hard on it. Instead he smiled gratefully at her for thinking of planning a surprise and went back to her previous comment. "Elena made sense when she said we'll have lots of out of town guests. So a breakfast party the day after seemed like a nice idea. So does the after party following the reception."

"Oh yes. You boys are going to have the wedding that will be talked about for a long, long time."

Ryo squeezed Dee's hand, noticing that the waitress was coming over with their sundaes.

"And one most fitting for the current MacLean heir, and the future one." She smiled down at Dee's swell again. "That baby is direct line MacLean of eldest of the eldest in our branch. Just as Randy is," Estelle announced.

"But grandfather…." Ryo started, remembering his grandfather's earlier comments on his inheritance.

"Is an old windbag who does not know his own mind. Did you ever doubt that you are our heir, Randy? If you do, get that out of your silly mind. Of course you're going to have to wait quite a while to get any inheritance, because I have no plans of going anytime soon. Especially with this little one on the way."

"I'm glad to hear that, Grandma. I'd like you around too and see our baby grow up," Ryo stated.

Everyone grew silent as the sundaes arrived. Dee's eyes grew wide when he noticed the size of the sundaes. Ryo wondered if he'd be able to eat all of his. Worse, he wondered how he would stop Dee from finishing up his own, plus what was left over from Ryo's and his grandmother's.

A/N: At the risk of starting to sound like a broken record here, once again, thank you reviewers! And thanks to the readers too. I'm amazed to see the hits for this, as well as the ones for TU I to continue. Oh wow!

I'm also glad that the Drake/JJ scene worked, not that there will be too many more of them, but their developing relationship will be seen throughout the rest of the fic. As for how and when Drake gets to talk to Ryo, we'll see. (Actually I know – I've had the idea for a while, but I haven't written it up yet).

So I'm going to shut up now and get this posted (and then start typing up the next chapter I'm up to and see about finally getting this part finished).

Thanks again!


	15. Well Wishes and Blessings

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 15 – Well Wishes and Blessings

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Beta by: Dawn – she does a wonderful job of picking things I would pass over. I do go back to fix a part at her suggestion most times, so any other typos/errors are all mine, not hers. She offered for me to send it back, but then that would take extra time to get this out. So I'll risk a couple of typos as long as the big errors are caught. Thanks so much for a wonderful job, Dawn!

* * *

**February 21, 2006**

The rest of the get together with Ryo's grandmother went very well, to Dee's surprise and Ryo's relief. The two men found themselves inviting Estelle to join them for Dee's appointment. Having some time to kill, Estelle took them shopping – mostly took Dee shopping, picking up some every day clothes for him as well as a few more suits for work.

Previous to her hearing her grandson's announcement about his upcoming marriage and the baby, she knew nothing about Carriers. Unlike the rest of her family, Estelle researched everything she could, to know what to expect of the pregnancy. Her research included getting locations on several Carrier boutiques in NYC that were more expensive than the few Ryo sought out. By the time they got to Vince's office, Ryo was loaded down with shopping bags, and grumbling good naturedly since his grandmother refused to allow Dee to carry anything but the lighter bags.

The exam went well. Vince had sent Ryo off to meet with Tim, for another counseling session while Vince went through the rest of the exam with Dee. Estelle decided to leave and Ryo walked her out to her car that was waiting. When the car was out of sight, he went back inside the clinic to meet with his counselor. Once Vince was done with the exam, instead of releasing Dee once the pregnant detective was dressed, he had Ryo called to return to the office.

"What's up, Vince?" Ryo asked, noticing Dee sitting, looking impatient to be finished.

"Time for several big questions," Vince stated, indicating Ryo to sit next to Dee. "One, that you both will have a couple of weeks to think about, and another you have a couple of months to toy with the idea."

Dee frowned a little. He had already read what to expect to be asked for this exam, and had talked it over with Ryo. He had a firm decision on one question and was still wavering on the other.

Ryo had a look as if he also knew what was coming. He took Dee's hand in his and held it between his two. "Go ahead, Vince," he quietly said.

"As if this is a surprise, but have you given any thought to taking the amniocentesis test, Dee?" Vince asked.

Dee nodded. "Enough thought," he replied. "And the answer is no. I'm not taking it."

Vince sighed, but otherwise did not seem surprised. "Forgive me, but it's my job to make sure here. Are you sure you gave it enough thought?"

"Do I sound like someone uncertain to you?" Dee asked, slightly annoyed. His brows almost came together as he started to frown. "I gave it enough thought, Vince. Thank you. Now next question."

Vince looked at Ryo in question.

Ryo raised his hands, leaving Dee's hand in his lap. "I had no part of making the decision. Dee and I talked about it, we discussed the pros and cons, but I told him the final decision will be up to him. I also promised to back up whatever that choice was. Since Dee says no, then it's no."

Vince sighed again, picking up Dee's record, pretending to flip through it. "Considering your case, Dee, I have to at least try to change your mind."

"My case? What? Do I have something you're not telling me?" Dee demanded.

"Dee, listen to reason here," Vince replied, keeping his tone steady. "You have no idea who your biological parents were or what they passed down to you – other than your carrier gene. There are many medical conditions that could have skipped a generation. Meaning it won't show up in you, but it will show up in the baby."

Dee rolled his eyes. "And if it's something that will be debilitating to the baby, you'll then have to try to talk me into aborting while we have the time. Right?"

"You obviously have caught up with your reading, Dee. Yes, but I can't force you either."

"I wouldn't. Ryo wouldn't want it either. We'll take our chances. And if there's something wrong with the baby, we're prepared to still love it. Give it as normal a life as possible, even if it's short. We want to give our child a chance at life. There's stories of babies beating the odds. They never would have had that chance if their parents aborted them. We want to give our child that chance – if it comes to that."

Ryo cleared his throat. With a finger, he indicated the medical record still in Vince's hand. "Are you seeing something there that might give us reason to prepare ourselves for the worse?" he asked.

Vince shook his head. "In this? No. Nothing. So far with Dee and the baby, the same. Despite the little setback this month, everything is pointing to normal. Carriers are usually placed on the high risk pregnancy alert, but some managed to drop below it. Dee, you're one of them."

Dee folded his arms, resting them on his swell. "Well then, that's my answer."

Vince sighed. He flipped through the medical record again, looking at Dee's childhood records. "You were a sickly baby and toddler, I see. But it's more from the conditions your parents left you in, rather than from inheriting from them. That didn't stop you from being an active little boy at 5, I also see, judging from that broken arm of yours. Injuries playing sports from age 8 up. Roller skating, skateboarding… falling out of a tree in a park." Vince snorted. "I see you once tried to be a daredevil with a bike too. All normal injuries for a boy. By 6, you didn't get sick as often and your medication was adjusted. By 8, no more meds and just seasonal flu. And since 11, you hardly ever got sick." Vince closed the record and put it down on his desk. "That's quite a remarkable recovery. Most kids who were sick and shy strayed away from windows and trees." Vince smirked in amusement. "I'll bet those sinuses are driving you crazy by now, huh?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah. Not used to it."

Vince nodded too. "I'll admit, there's nothing to further push you. Ryo, I also looked through your medical record. No reason for alarm from your side either. I just want you to know that by your next visit, it will be too late. It'll be all the way from there."

"It's all the way from here," Dee insisted. His voice cracked and Ryo turned to look at him with concern. Dee's eyes were wet.

"Dee?" Ryo asked.

Dee shook his head, roughly wiping his tears with his hand, ignoring Vince's offer of a tissue. "Nothing. Everything. It's just… when he made it seem like I could actually consider… to… you know… It hurts, Ryo."

Ryo put his arms around Dee and held him. He spared a glare at Vince before murmuring soothing, loving words to Dee to calm him. "Don't worry, sweetheart," Ryo assured Dee as he kissed the last of the tears that streaked Dee's flushed cheeks. "No one is taking our baby from us. We won't allow it. Right?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah."

Vince was busy putting things away, getting the office ready for his next appointment. Dee was far from the first to breakdown during that particular topic and wouldn't be the last. Vince broke down himself when it was strongly suggested he take the test himself when he was Carrying Jason. He'd finally agreed, with fear in his heart, and assurance that no matter what the results, he was going to bring Jason to full term. The test came back clean and Jason was a normal, healthy baby, if a little on the underweight side.

Most women feared the AFP, even with only a 1 chance of the long needle used puncturing the baby. Any normal person would not relish the idea of having something that long stuck into any part of them. The womb definitely was an area that women felt protective over. The uterine lining of a Carrier was more so. The chances of puncturing increased to 10 because of the murkiness in imaging involving the uterine lining. In Carriers, there was also a 5 chance of the temporary womb rupturing and causing spontaneous abortion. Vince did not like administering the test, but sometimes it was a necessary evil. And it was part of the practice to play devil's advocate when there was a quick reply of no, such as with Dee. He had to do it, it was his job. And he was satisfied with the results.

He was sorry he made Dee cry, but even that action in itself spoke volumes of how the brazen detective had adjusted to the pregnancy. Vince was happy to note that it was most positive. Ryo had also proven to have adjusted well, his support being a strong foundation for Dee whenever the pregnant man needed it. Vince also decided that this baby was going to be raised and nurtured in a very positive environment of love.

"Sorry, Vince," Dee's rough voice broke him out of his musings.

Vince nodded. "It's a necessary evil, Dee. Sometimes my job isn't easy and sometimes I won't be on a client's most favorite list."

Dee chuckled. "No need to send in your invitation checked no, dude."

"Good." Vince wiped down a surface and turned to Ryo and Dee. "Now, are we ready for public enemy question number two?"

"Is it always that way?" Ryo had to ask.

"No. Depends on the client. I'd say Dee is going to give me a firm, 'Hell-fuckin'-NO!' for a reply."

Dee laughed. "Honestly? I'm undecided."

Vince blinked, staring at Dee. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I am." Dee chuckled. "When I first read about the idea, I said what you thought I'd say, but Ryo made us both sit down and read through everything on the subject. Now, I admit that the pros and cons are pretty much equal. You say I have another two months or so to think about it, and I'd like to take those two months to completely think it through. See which way the scale tips."

"And if it's still equal by then?" Vince asked.

Dee shrugged and blushed slightly. "Well, then I'll have to go with it's the baby's nutrition versus my masculine ego being bruised. But fuck, by then I'll definitely be very pregnant, and if my masculine ego survives that, which I'm sure it will, then the baby wins hands down."

"Of course. I'll leave that open for another two visits. Your visit after next, I'll need a firm answer. Particularly if it's yes, so we have time to start the treatments that will help you be able to breastfeed."

Hearing the word spoken aloud, Dee flushed more. Ryo kissed Dee's cheek. "And as usual," Ryo said, "whatever Dee decides, I'll back him up."

"Of course," Vince replied smiling. "Now have you had any thoughts to change any of the birth plans since last time?" Vince sat down, pad and pen in hand to finish off the rest of the exam with Dee and Ryo. "By the way, I haven't had a chance to tell you that those clothes look great on you, Dee."

Ryo giggled. Dee smirked. "Yeah, I know. I've been told." Dee turned his head to kiss Ryo's cheek. "Isn't that right?"

"You betcha, sexy."

"Oh God," Vince muttered, then laughed.

* * *

**February 24, 2006**

Ryo found himself teasing Dee over the cake tasting. When Dee was informed they were to take only a bite from the samples, the dark haired, pregnant man looked downright disappointed. Second bites, Ryo explained, were for those samples he was unsure of, or they still had too many selections and had to narrow it down more.

Dee had a lot of trouble deciding, to Ryo's chagrin and humor. Sharon and the representatives from the bakeries may have been fooled with Dee's act, but Ryo was not. On the way home, Ryo made sure Dee knew it, teasing his husband-to-be pretty much for the rest of the night.

The next day for the food tasting, Ryo made sure Dee was forewarned. At first Dee looked at the food offered in confusion, since much of it were items he had never encountered before. It was not long after they started that he appeared to attempt the same trick as with the cake tasting. By the time they were halfway through, both men were full. Dee had a good idea of what he preferred. He let Ryo know what he liked and did not like, then left the rest of the final decisions for his husband to be to make.

During the week they also had their first fitting, having already picked out their wedding suits. Despite going together, they managed to keep their choices from the other, both men deciding to surprise the other on the day of the wedding.

On the way home, they had grabbed dinner to go from Zabar's. After Bikky and Carol had gone off to the movies and then going to Carol's for the night, Ryo ushered Dee into the bedroom to relax.

By that time, they had the food and drinks picked out for the reception, the after party and the morning after wedding breakfast. The venue for the rehearsal dinner was booked, as well as for the after party to follow the reception. The cake design and fillings were picked out and ordered. Flowers, linen, favors and the extras were selected and on order. All the paperwork and contracts were signed. All they needed now was to give Sharon the final head count the following Friday. Dee and Ryo felt Sharon was a blessing. They went to her with ideas, she produced vendors and samples. Dee, being an artist himself, sketched out concepts on what he and Ryo imagined, and handed it to Sharon and they had contracts to sign to make it happen.

It was almost too perfect. Ryo felt Dee was worried about that. He could not blame his fiancé. He felt a little apprehensive too. However, all they could do was wait until the big day, hoping that everything worked out okay and that the customized concepts actually looked the way they hoped. Despite his own fears, Ryo had to admit that as long as they were married on March 11th, the did not care what might fall apart by the wedding date.

While they lounged on the bed, they went over the checklist of everything they needed for the wedding, just to make sure no one forgot anything.

"Diana wants to treat the women to a day spa earlier in the day of the attendant party," Ryo said to Dee as they got to the checklist for the attendant party that was to be held the Sunday before their wedding.

"If you think we can afford it, then give them a hen's day," Dee chuckled. He came across the term while looking through a British wedding magazine and could not stop laughing. Almost on top of that, he discovered that the bachelorette party was called a hen's party. He had been waiting to use either one of those terms ever since.

Ryo nodded. "We're fine. If you're okay with it, then I'm okay with it. I'll tell her tomorrow that she can book the reservations. She has a tentative hold on a resort in New Jersey."

"Just as long as they're back in time for the party." Dee glanced over the list for the attendants' party. "Man, I'm glad Elena is handling the…." Dee abruptly stopped, drawing in a deep breath.

"Dee?" Ryo asked in concern, sitting up.

"Wow," Dee uttered, placing his hand on his belly. He rubbed in a gentle small circle.

"What?"

"I felt something… a… flutter." Dee smiled. "Not a real movement, but something real enough to know it came from the baby."

Ryo's mind quickly searched for the word from the terminology he had recently learned. "Quickening?" he asked.

"Yeah." Dee nodded. "That's it. That's what just happened." He took another deep breath. "My God, Ryo! I just felt our baby flutter." Dee's face was flushed with a huge happy smile.

Ryo placed his hand over Dee's, realizing the flush as a glow more than a blush or from overheating. Ryo had noticed the difference of that coloring on Dee lately, but at the moment he could say that his husband to be was definitely glowing more than he had so far.

"Really?" Ryo asked, excited. "That really was it?"

"Yes. There was this… flutter. It didn't feel like much, but damn, it took my breath away. Because I knew it came from the chibi."

Ryo grinned and leaned over to kiss Dee's tummy. "Hey there little one. Are you finally letting Daddy know you're in there?" He rested his head lightly on Dee's tummy, looking up at Dee.

Dee's hand moved to run through Ryo's hair. "I think Papa is excited too," he softly said.

"Yup," Ryo quickly agreed. "I love you, Dee." He kissed Dee's tummy again. "And I love you too, little chibi." He pressed his lips to the bump. He blew a raspberry next, causing Dee to jump and laugh.

"Hey!" Dee protested, chuckling.

Ryo grinned up at Dee. "I can't wait for the baby to move while I'm down here," he said.

Dee continued to play with Ryo's hair. "The baby is moving while you're down there, silly. Just because I can't feel her except that one time, doesn't mean she's not."

"I mean when he moves and I can feel him with my head resting on you," Ryo said with a smirk.

Dee raised an amused eyebrow at Ryo. "He, huh? Who knows. I just don't like 'it' anymore."

Ryo nodded, patting Dee's tummy softly. "Agreed. He, she… better than it."

"That's why I want to know the sex for sure," Dee remarked.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Dee. I told you, anything you want. But to be honest, I'm glad. I'd like to get that pronoun right."

"And choose a name and start calling her by it."

Ryo nodded again. "Yup. Maybe we should start looking at names soon? Then maybe by the time we find out, we'll have some names narrowed down."

Dee looked thoughtful as he smiled gently at Ryo, his fingers still going through silky strands of chestnut brown hair. "Did you ever think about that in the past? Even before me. Like if you had a child, did you ever have a name you liked?"

"I would like to have a son named after my dad, but that would mean he'd be a Franklin like my grandfather too. So that's out," Ryo said with a shrug. "Other than that…" He laughed. "Before I met you, I figured I'd let my wife do the picking, and I'd help narrow it down."

Dee mussed the hair in his fingers. "You're going to help me look for names, 'cause I ain't your wife, Mr. MacLean."

Ryo laughed. "Damn, that's going to be a shocker to some of my relatives tomorrow when they find out that Dee is a he."

"You…" Dee laughed. "Come up here."

"Hm?" Ryo asked, looking as if he was getting comfortable in his current position. He glanced up at Dee with hooded eyes, hair falling into his face, while the rest of it was still rumpled from Dee.

"Just come."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Baby, as much as it's a turn on to see you looking all sexy like this, I'm going to need more to 'come'."

Dee's hands went to Ryo's chest and started to tickle him. "You know what I mean, you horn dog!" He laughed harder at Ryo's expression at being called 'horn dog'. "But if you do what I say, it could possibly lead to that."

"Oh?" Ryo twisted to roll away from Dee and sat up. He scooted up the bed to sit next to Dee. "Okay, what do you want?"

Dee laughed. "Hopefully the same thing you want." He drew Ryo close for a lingering kiss. "I love you too, Ryo."

"Is that all you have for me?" Ryo asked, with a silly pout.

Dee shook his head, amused. "No. I want to show you just how much."

"In that case, I'm willing to return the favor."

As Dee went to kiss Ryo again, Ryo met him halfway. Their kiss was deeper, more passionate, eliciting moans from the two partners. They broke the kiss long enough to catch their breath, before resuming. Hands started to wander, articles of clothing started to be removed.

When clothes were off and they lay on their sides, facing each other, bodies pressed close, legs tangled, Dee murmured, "I want you, Ryo."

"Then take me, Dee," Ryo sighed.

* * *

**February 25, 2006**

"So there you are," Dee heard Ryo's voice.

Dee turned in the direction it came from to find Ryo going down the few steps from the patio behind the Land's End restaurant to join Dee. Dee was standing on a path that ran along the edge of the water and had been looking out into the Long Island Sound. It was a clear cold night. The stars glittered in the dark sky brighter than in the city.

He held out his hand to take Ryo's as the other man approached.

Ryo stopped next to Dee, holding hands. "Aren't you cold?" he asked, shivering a little. They both wore no outer coat other than their suit jackets.

"That's why I'm out here. It started to get too warm in there," Dee replied softly. "It feels good actually. So I don't mind the heated patio belonging to the smokers."

Ryo smiled and squeezed Dee's hand. Less than 15 yards from where they stood were family members and friends that Ryo once thought he'd never be able to admit the truth about himself to. He felt liberated, knowing some eyes were on the happy couple that this party was thrown for. He leaned over to kiss Dee lightly, and tugged at the tie which miraculously remained intact for the evening so far. "This must be more uncomfortable than usual then," he remarked.

Dee looked scandalized. "Ryo! It was hurting keeping myself from pulling at it all night. And then you just undo it like that?"

Ryo laughed. "It's okay. Dinner is over. Some of the others are now working on getting drunk, while everyone is dancing. It's okay to look casual now. You'll see what I mean when we go back in."

Dee sighed with relief. "In that case," he started.

"Allow me," Ryo finished for him, unknotting the silk tie and then opening the top two shirt buttons. He removed the tie, rolled it up and put it in Dee's jacket pocket. "Well, imagine that. Still looking sexy." He put his arms around Dee's neck and started to kiss him.

Dee hugged Ryo, returning the kiss. They pulled apart at the sound of crystal chiming. The couple looked up to the patio, where some of Ryo's younger female cousins stood, chiming on their glasses. They laughed and kissed again, to applause and laughter.

"Most of my female cousins my age and single are so jealous of me," Ryo grinned.

Dee laughed again.

"Want to take a little walk to get away from the giggling?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah. Just for a few minutes. It's a nice night and I feel I could use the walk."

"Then let's go." Ryo placed his arm around Dee's back and guided him further along the walk, both men turning to wave to Ryo's cousins.

"Is everything alright, love?" Ryo asked as they slowly walked along the path.

Dee nodded. "It's just perfect." He smiled at Ryo. "At least no one gave me any shit to my face. All those biddies can do is gather in the corner and talk just loud enough to be overhead. I don't waste my time on cowards like that." He shrugged. "I suppose your grandparents will be the subject of gossip for holding a shindig like this to celebrate your upcoming marriage to another man."

Ryo smirked. "Grandma will put them in their places. And Elena. I learned to ignore them myself. If they took the time to talk to you, you'd find out I became something of a rebel after my parents died."

"Oh? Maybe I should go up and strike up a conversation with them then. A rebel? You?" Dee laughed.

"Well, not exactly. But to them, yes. And to be honest, a lot of choices I made for a few years after I lost my parents were based on, well, the opposite of what they wanted of me. My grandfather included. They wanted me to go to a prestigious university for college, and I took time off to figure out things for myself. I settled on the Army. Grandfather expected me to attend West Point. One of those biddies had the right connections that all it would take was a contribution, and I'd be in. So I up and enlisted and packed my bags to go off to boot camp. Franklin MacLean III's grandson an enlisted grunt. Yup, I was a rebel. They expected me to go to Yale or Harvard after that first tour, but I had already been taking classes through the University of Maryland while I was stationed at Camp Zama. I was a MP, and had training to be a sniper. I came back to New York with enough credits that when I entered the academy soon after, the credits I accumulated there was enough for a bachelor's. So I never had a big graduation, never went to a big name private institute. After that, I dated girls I knew my grandfather would hate, and a few other things."

Dee laughed more. "But basically I'll bet you had a 4.0 index for those classes, you were a 4.0 soldier and became a good cop. Plus you treated your ladies with respect. Right?" Dee winked.

Ryo grinned. "You know me too damn well. But you know, Grandfather likes you. He didn't say it directly, but I could tell by what he did say. And what he didn't have to say about you. Besides, he came up to you several times to talk to you, to get to know you. I think he's more impressed with you attending National Yokohama University than he was with me in Camp Zama taking classes from the University of Maryland. He may not be in good terms with my mother's family, but he has a high respect for people who can embrace other languages and cultures. To him, he sees you as cultured, having studied in Japan, in Japanese, and being raised bi-lingual with Spanish as your 2nd language." Ryo smiled up at Dee. "I don't think he sees you as the street rat you claim you are."

Dee shook his head. "When I decided to go for the student exchange program, I never thought it would give me brownie points with my future in-laws."

"Grandma adores you. And more than Grandfather, having her on your side, there's no one in my family that can attempt to hurt you with words, or they'll have to deal with her. Elena gets most of her spirit from her mother, you know."

"I've noticed the similarities. Yup, she's her mother's daughter." He squeezed Ryo's hand. "I adore your grandmother too. She went totally out of her way tonight to make me feel comfortable and part of the family."

"You are part of the family as of tonight, Dee. That's another reason for the party. A welcome to the MacLean clan."

Dee stopped walking to gaze out into the water again.

Ryo came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Dee, pressing up against Dee. "So what is on your mind? Something is bothering you."

"It's not bad," Dee replied. "It's just… when I first came out here for a breather, I looked out at the water and remembered when I was younger. Jess would take me to Jones Beach, for swimming, sometimes for fishing. I'd play in the water, thinking it was the Atlantic Ocean and try to imagine that the next body of land was way on the other side of the Atlantic. Turns out it's only the Sound, and the next body of land is a 20 minute ferry ride. At least the times I went to Fire Island, I got to swim in the Atlantic, but by then, I was too old to care if England was on the other side." He smiled back to Ryo. "Even if I could say I've been there too."

"And this got you thinking what else?"

"Jess would also take me once a month when it wasn't too cold out to Jones Beach to go stargazing. He'd pack the telescope he got me, but there were others with these large ones set up and allow others to look through them at the stars, constellations, even planets. It was something that I shared only with Jess. I had things I shared only with Mother, but the stargazing and fishing are Jess' memories. I realized that when I looked out. And… I just wish he was here."

Ryo rested his chin on Dee's shoulder. "I know. I'd love for Mom and Dad to be here too. They'd love you, Dee. I know they would."

"I know Jess would adore you too."

"You know what I'd like to think," Ryo said softly. "That wherever the afterlife is, that they're together, the three of them, and somehow, someway they are looking at us now and happy. They're great friends and they're so happy that we're getting married and having a baby."

Dee started to smile. "I like that." He turned in Ryo's arms and kissed him. "Thank you. For everything."

"Only giving back what I receive," Ryo remarked and kissed Dee.

"Now, how about we go back and check what Mother has gotten herself into," Dee said.

Ryo laughed. "I have to say, those biddies didn't have a clue what to think about her." He laughed more. "The look on their faces when you introduced a nun as your mother. Priceless!"

Dee snickered. "It does tend to throw people off balance. Then Mother has a way of taking advantage of that."

"Let's go. I'd love to have a dance with you with my family watching before we collect all those gifts and head back to the homestead."

"I'm worried about tomorrow when we go back to the city. Where are we going to keep everything?" Dee asked as Ryo took his hand and lead him back the way they came.

Ryo shrugged. "I guess we can ask Elena if she can store some of it until we figure out everything. I really don't feel like putting more stuff in the guest room, since before we know it, we'll be taking everything out to redo it."

"Maybe your Japanese family can give us a few hints on space saving," Dee said with a wink.

"Who knows. Maybe. I'll have to ask next time they call to speak to your bump."

Dee pulled Ryo close to him, laughing. "I believe I'm also very fond of the Aoki family too."

"I'm glad. They're fond of you too."

When Ryo and Dee returned inside, it was just as Ryo told Dee. Most of the older guests had left, leaving the younger generations to take over the dance floor and relaxing the dress code. The music playing was popular disco and love songs from the 70's and 80's, which was a contrast to the jazz and classical that was played during dinner.

When Helen Reddy's version of "Somewhere in the Night" came on, Dee stood up and held his hand out to Ryo. Ryo smiled and the happy couple took the center of the floor. They swayed to the music in each other's arms, sometimes singing to the other. They were so into each other that it was only when the song neared the end they realized they were the only dancers on the floor, while everyone watched. Since the music was slow, they continued to dance for the last few songs.

After the party, Dee and Ryo sat in the stretch limousine, accompanied by Ryo's grandparents and Mother, going to the MacLean homestead where they were to spend the night. Their gifts had been loaded into a van and were on their way to Elena's house, where she was to safeguard everything until after the couple returned from their honeymoon. She promised to get a list to them of what they had received and from whom so they could write out the thank you cards.

"Well, that was quite an interesting evening," Franklin MacLean stated. "Did you have fun, Dee?"

"Yes, sir. I did. Thank you very much for the wonderful party," Dee replied. He was tired, but he still sounded excited.

Mother smiled. "It was a very lovely party, Mr. MacLean. And thank you for allowing Dee to invite me."

"Pish," Estelle remarked. "First, Mother Maria, it's Estelle and Franklin, please. And second, what's an engagement party without parents?" Estelle's eyes changed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Randy. I didn't mean…."

Ryo shook his head, shaking off the momentary sadness. "I'm fine, Grandma. I had you and Grandfather, and Elena and Rick. And Mother." He took the elderly nun's hand. "Considering the circumstances, I couldn't have asked for more. Besides, I felt as if they were around anyway. Dee felt the same about his dad."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. We're okay."

Estelle laughed. "Oh, when we introduced Mother Maria to Bernice and Antoinette."

Dee, Ryo and Mother laughed along with her. "It's gotten to we expect those reactions," Dee said with a smile.

Franklin chuckled. "It was fun to watch those old hens' feathers get ruffled." He extended his hand toward Dee. "I think I forgot to say something earlier tonight. Welcome to the family, Dee. The circumstances may have put me into shock at first, but I am looking forward to becoming a great-grandfather."

Ryo smiled warmly as he watched Dee's face change color as the dark haired man took Franklin's hand in his for a firm handshake.

"Thank you, sir," Dee stammered.

Ryo took his other hand and squeezed it. "Thank you, both of you. Grandfather, I know we said some words over the upcoming marriage, but the party tonight tells me we're all past that. You have no idea what that means to me."

Franklin winked at Ryo. "You're your father's son, Randy. I'm sure he's proud of you, I know I am."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

"And Dee," Estelle added, "please call me Grandma. You're family now. That child you're carrying has MacLean blood. That makes you a MacLean." Estelle smiled. "You do have good taste, Randy. My, you picked a man with looks, charm, intelligence and a sense of humor. And you're both so in love. You don't know how many times I heard over the evening that a love like yours cannot be wrong. How true that is."

It was Ryo's turn to blush. "Thank you, Grandmother."

Mother was beaming upon hearing the sincere assessment Estelle had about her son. "I'm glad Ryo came into our lives," she said. "He was everything Dee needed and so much more. There is nothing wrong with that."

"That is true, Mother Maria."

"Please, Estelle. Call me Maria. We are family now, are we not?" Mother stated.

"Of course we are, Maria." Estelle's eyes wandered to the happy couple. Dee was leaning against Ryo and his eyes were starting to droop. "And as soon as we get to the house, it's right to bed for Dee."

"Ah please," Dee sighed. "It's been a wonderful evening, but we had to work earlier today and I think I'm starting to feel it."

"No problem, Lamb," Mother said with an affectionate smile. "I think we're all looking forward to a good night's sleep after this delightful evening."

"Indeed," Estelle agreed.

"By the way, Maria," Franklin spoke as the car started to pull into the driveway leading to the MacLean manor. "Did I tell you that we feel truly blessed having a nun in our family?"

Mother smiled as she softly pushed the hair from Dee's face. "I just feel blessed these days," she stated. "Just a few more minutes, darling and you'll be heading toward a nice comfortable bed."

Ryo chuckled as he kissed Dee's cheek. He felt giddy and happy. He knew he'dstill butt heads with his grandfather at times over things, but he knew one of those things would no longer be his decision to marry Dee, or create a child with a Carrier. Dee had managed to charm his way onto Franklin's good side and had a feeling that was the way it would be from now on.

* * *

**February 26, 2006**

Dee and Ryo returned home early afternoon on Sunday, only to head out to Barry's house for a previously accepted invitation. Barry came by to pick them up, along with Bikky and Carol, for what they had been told was a cookout.

When they arrived at Barry's refurbished Victorian home in Flatbush, Brooklyn, they found more than just Barry's family waiting for them. All their friends were there, and the main room was decorated, including a large banner exclaiming, "Congratulations, Dee and Ryo". Barry and Julie had contacted all their friends and planned a wedding shower. Dee and Ryo were shocked, Carol was excited, and Bikky realized he had not been able to avoid all the parties for the upcoming wedding.

Not too long into the festivities, Dee had to excuse himself. Ryo, knowing his fiancé all too well, gave Dee a few minutes before setting off to find him. He found Dee in the bathroom, overwhelmed by the party.

"Dee?" Ryo asked, knocking softly on the door.

He heard the door unlock, and he entered to find Dee washing his face.

"You okay, Dee?" Ryo asked.

Dee nodded. "Yeah. It's just… dammit, I nearly started to blubber like a child in there several times since we walked in. So…." Dee shrugged helplessly. "I figured to find a nice quiet place to get it all out and then go back out there to join in on the fun."

Ryo smiled softly as he stood close to Dee, gently rubbing his back. "It's okay, Dee. Hell, for a moment there I thought I was going to start crying too. That was quite a surprise. We knew about the intention of the party last night, but I didn't think that any of our friends would throw anything."

Dee smiled. "Actually, I was expecting Diana to, since she is the happy occasion party queen. So I honestly was expecting this to be one of those Sunday afternoon cookouts with the Wilsons."

"No shit," Ryo remarked. "I see everyone possible out there, so I think this is the last of the surprises. At least concerning the weddings. We'll have a break for a few months and then baby showers. At least Grandma will give us warning. However, I believe she's already started planning them."

Dee laughed. "Yeah. She mentioned it several times last night."

Ryo smiled at Dee as he put his arms around the other man. He hugged Dee, reaching up to lightly kiss Dee's lips. "Are you ready to go out there and see what else we accumulated that we'll have to find room for?"

Dee chuckled. "In a moment. I think I need another kiss or two."

"I think I can do something about that." Ryo touched his lips to Dee's again for a longer kiss as he continued to hold Dee. Dee's arms went around Ryo as he hungrily returned the kiss.

"Well," Ryo remarked as they broke the kiss to catch their breath, "I'd say from that kiss that if you're not too knocked out by the time we get home, I know what we're doing before going to bed."

"Believe me, Ryo, I am intending on not being too tired for that. And if I am, well," he shrugged, gazing innocently at Ryo, batting his long lashes, "I'll just make you do all the work."

Ryo laughed and kissed Dee's nose. "You're a crazy bastard, you know."

"Oh, I do know. And you make me crazier. And horny."

Ryo smirked. "As much as I'd love to take all the credit there, I'm guessing it could also have something to do with your crazy hormones lately."

Dee gave Ryo a mock glare. "Oh? And who's fault is it that I'm having these raging crazy hormones?"

Ryo grinned devilishly. "Putting it that way, that would be me." He winked at Dee. "So I guess I'll have to make it my duty that I make sure you get relief from those crazy hormones."

"I think so too."

Ryo moved so his face was close to Dee's. "You know what? I think you being pregnant is producing some crazy hormones in me too. Because I'm hoping you're not too tired. Or willing to try to find a way around that if you are."

Dee laughed and kissed Ryo. "I should be scared, knowing you're getting so turned on with me like this."

"Why? You're afraid of too much sex?"

Dee shook his head. "Never. But you might decide to see to it that I'm pregnant often."

Ryo shook his head. "I might. Then again, I might give you a chance to understand what I feel whenever I look at you these days. My God, Dee, you were already incredibly handsome and sexy, and even beautiful before all this. But now…." Ryo sighed happily. "Hard to describe."

Dee grinned. "You're just one of those men who get turned on by their better half being pregnant and we're both discovering that. That's fine. As long as you still find me a turn on after the baby is born."

"Always, Dee," Ryo stated sincerely. "I will always find you sexy and handsome and beautiful and the most wonderful man on this planet. Even when we're in our 80's."

Dee's eyes started to tear up again as he smiled lovingly at Ryo.

"Aw Dee," Ryo softly said, and he leaned up to lightly kiss Dee's eyes. "All this celebrating and parties are because we want to spend the rest of our lives together. That includes after all the children are grown and on their own. Don't ever start to think that I'm marrying you to do the right thing because of the baby. Growing old together, and raising a family along the way is what feels right to me, Dee. I'll love you forever. And in less than 2 weeks, I'll be vowing to do that with you before all our friends and family."

"I love you, too, Ryo. I feel the same. But, I guess after all that time of wishing and hoping, then with this little one hanging out in here," he took one of Ryo's hands to rest on his tummy, "it just gets overwhelming when I realize that we're really doing this. And our wedding day will be here before we know it."

Ryo nodded, smiling. "I sometimes wonder how did I get so lucky to have found not just a partner, but the other half of my soul."

Dee kissed Ryo deeply.

As they broke apart that time, Dee smiled again at Ryo. "I think I'm ready to head back there now. Everyone might be starting to worry."

"They'll understand. But come on." He took Dee's hand in his. "Let's go join our friends who want to wish us well on our upcoming marriage."

Dee squeezed the hand holding his, then allowed Ryo to lead him out of the bathroom and into the living room with all their friends, the food and the gifts.

The end of the night found Diana and Rose driving them home, with Barry following. Barry's mini-van was filled with gifts from their friends.

* * *

A/N: Wow! I'm so glad that Estelle seems to be a very liked character. Here's hoping that Ryo's other grandmother makes another good impression on you when she finally shows up.

This chapter pretty much is the start of the parties that will lead up to Ryo & Dee's wedding. So here's hoping you like what you've been waiting so long for. Thanks for sticking with me through my sometimes long pauses between posting. I am trying my best to get the next chapter out within the next two weeks. So wish me luck!

This is my favorite part, but as much as I would love to write a paragraph to each and everyone of you, we don't want the A/N to be as long as the chapter. So…. Akasha721, Jay, FavriteofChaos, ThirdPersonOmniscient, Trunkslil'sis, Hypergirl321 (congrats on becoming an auntie!), natsumeluvr, and irishKaoru (even if I am on IM with you right now)… THANK YOU all so much! +HUGS+

See everyone next time!


	16. The Parties Begin

March 3, 2006

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter 16 – The Parties Begin

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read! Some graphic description of some rather extreme forms of exotic Thai entertainment.

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Beta by: Dawn – thank you so much!

* * *

**March 3, 2006**

Ryo had just gone into the kitchen to do the dinner dishes, while Dee sat on the couch, his laptop on his lap. While Ryo was under the impression that Dee was working on something wedding related, he was really writing in his online journal that he had started sometime after they returned from LA. After everything he had to say about it initially to Ryo, Dee felt embarrassed to admit he had a journal, particularly one online. He did not write in it everyday, not like he had to do with the one he had to show Vince during his pre-natal exams. Ryo knew about that one. He made certain Dee made all the proper entries daily. Dee's private journal were entries related to the pregnancy, the wedding and whatever he felt like adding here and there.

Dee was just about done with his latest entry when the doorbell rang. Putting the laptop to the side, he got up. "I got it," he called out to Ryo. He didn't hear Bikky stir from his room.

He opened the door to find two cops in uniform. "Is there a Randy MacLean living here?" the taller of the two cops asked.

Dee studied them, realizing that they did not look even vaguely familiar to him. "What's this about?" he asked.

"Are you Randy MacLean?" the second one asked.

Dee shook his head. "No. I'm not Detective MacLean."

"Is he home, sir?" the first one asked.

Dee studied them again. "And you are?" he asked.

"Dee, who's at the door?" Ryo asked, coming into the living room.

"Is that Detective MacLean?" the second cop asked.

Ryo came to stand next to Dee. "Yes, I'm Detective MacLean. What is this about?" he asked with a frown. He tried to gently shove Dee from the door.

"Can I see your ID?" Dee requested. "Then tell us what this is all about?"

The first cop took out his handcuffs. "Detective Randy Ryo MacLean, you're under arrest. You'll have to come with us."

Ryo's mouth dropped as he took an instinctive step back.

Dee took advantage and placed himself between Ryo and the cops. "First off, care to tell us what is the reason for this arrest? And second, I did ask for your ID."

"Dee!" Ryo snapped, grabbing Dee and shoving the other man behind him. "Don't make me lecture you again about doing shit like this, dammit."

"But Ryo!" Dee started to protest.

Ryo turned to the two cops, studying them intently. "But you heard Detective Laytner. Care to show me some…."

"Ryo?" Dee asked in concern as Ryo continued to stare wordlessly at the two cops.

The first cop pulled out a military ID and flashed it before Ryo's face.

"Oh shit," Ryo gasped, then laughed.

The second cop chuckled and took advantage of Ryo's pause. He pulled Ryo's hands behind his back and started to cuff him.

"Goddammit," Dee growled, about to spring into action and get Ryo away from the cop.

"We're the party SPs. Randy Ryo MacLean, you're under arrest for getting married. We're going to have to take you to your bachelor party," the second cop stated. "Anything you do there will not be held against you."

"What?" Dee remarked, blinking.

Ryo chuckled. "You assholes! You actually got me going there for a bit. It's been years. Dee, calm down. I know them."

"Bachelor party?" Dee asked, bewildered. "And who are they? I've never seen them before."

Ryo laughed. "You have. In my photo album from Japan. These are a couple of the guys from my SP unit at Camp Zama. Kevin Jackson and Eddie Stewart. Guys, this is Dee, the man I'm going to marry."

Kevin placed a large hand on Dee's shoulder. "Sorry, man. I hope we didn't unsettle the baby. We didn't think about Ryo forgetting what we looked like."

"It's been years," Ryo defended. He looked over to Dee. "Dee? Are you okay?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I had the crap scared out of me for a moment there, but yeah, I'm fine." He winked at Kevin and Eddie. "Carry on. Just make sure there's something left of him for me to marry next week please."

Ryo chuckled. "One thing, Dee. Don't you just open the door like you did, without checking first while I'm gone. Got it?"

"Yeah. I won't. Just go out and have fun," Dee said.

"Nice to meet you, Dee," Eddie said, as they hauled Ryo away, still in handcuffs.

Dee stood by the door a minute, chuckling as he listened to Ryo's good natured grumbling as he got reacquainted with his two Army buddies. As he heard the elevator door open, he finally closed the apartment door, then made sure all the locks were set.

As he went back to the couch, Bikky came out of his room. "Hey, where's Ryo?" he asked. "I didn't see him in the kitchen."

Dee chuckled. "Bachelor party."

"Oh," the teen said, sitting down next to Dee.

"It was a surprise. For both of us. He was just picked up by some old Army buddies of his." Dee chuckled again.

Bikky rolled his eyes. "Jeez, let's hope they don't make homemade bombs for party games." He snickered.

Dee laughed. "Let's hope not, Biks. It's just you and me tonight. Who knows what time they'll drag him home."

"Yeah, huh. Good thing they waited until after Ryo fed us."

"I'd have fed you, brat." Dee picked up his laptop. "But that reminds me to check the kitchen. I don't think Ryo was done with the dishes. He'll have our heads if it's exactly the way he left it."

Bikky shrugged. "He'll get over it. He's the one who left it like that." He turned to look up at Dee. "Hey Dee, can we do movie night? I'll go out and get us some snacks we don't have in the house."

Dee grinned. "You know, that sounds like a great idea."

"Cool! Let me get my coat and you give me some money…."

"After we finish the kitchen," Dee cut in.

"Aw man," Bikky pouted, leaning back into the couch. "Yeah, alright."

Dee logged out of his journal and closed the laptop. "C'mon, bud. The sooner we're done, the sooner I'm giving you money for snacks."

Bikky rolled his eyes. "As long as there's snacks tonight."

"That's what I'm saying," Dee said with a grin as he ruffled Bikky's hair.

* * *

In the elevator, Eddie looked at Ryo. "Nice shirt," he laughed.

"It was a random gift from some of the guys I work with," Ryo replied with a chuckle. "I thought I wasn't going out tonight, so I put it on."

The shirt in reference had a drawing of a target with many multi-colored sperm within the target, including one in the center and the saying, "My boys can score!"

"Akemi would never allow me to wear something like that, even after the 4th kid," Eddie remarked with a laugh.

As Ryo was escorted from the elevator and through the lobby, they noticed a few of Ryo's neighbors waiting for a cab or someone to pick them up. They all stared at Ryo, who they knew was a detective, being led out in handcuffs by two police officers.

Kevin smirked. "Just a bachelor party gag, folks. No need to gawk."

Ryo laughed. "Even if I have no idea where it is." He winked at his neighbors, letting them know all was well.

The others in the lobby looked relieved. They knew of the baby and the very eminent wedding. They had already sent back their RSVPs to attend.

"Have fun, Ryo,' one of the women called out. "And you boys don't make him do anything to upset Dee."

"Wouldn't think of doing such a thing," Ryo grinned.

As they left the building, Ryo looked at Eddie. "Glad to hear you're still with Akemi. And making lots of babies, too."

Eddie laughed. "Well, all I can say, Ryo old bud, is that tonight I finally get to pay you back for that hellacious bachelor party you threw for me."

"Yeah, but we all had fun," Ryo grinned.

Kevin slapped Ryo on the back. "That would be an affirmative. Just as we will tonight.

They stopped before a sedan with New Jersey license plates that was parked down the street. Kevin opened the back door. "Get in."

Ryo got into the backseat, then looked up. "I'm gonna have a little trouble with the seat belt here."

Eddie laughed, looking into the car at Ryo. "Lean forward. If you promise not to bolt, I'll uncuff you for the ride."

Ryo looked thoughtful, a playful grin on his face. "If I bolt, I get a feeling you'll have at least a few pissed off people waiting somewhere."

"Don't even try it, MacLean," Kevin warned with a laugh, as Eddie uncuffed Ryo.

Once they were on their way, Ryo asked Eddie, "Are you still living in Japan?"

Eddie shook his head. "Unfortunately no. We ended up in California about 5 years ago. Then last year, I got stationed in Fort Dix."

"So this is your car then?" Ryo asked.

"Huh?" Eddie asked.

"New Jersey plates," Ryo replied.

"Oh," Eddie laughed. "Yup, you're a detective. Yeah, this is my car. Akemi has the mini-van."

"What about you, Kevin?" Ryo asked.

"I came up here from Alabama. Took a week's leave when I got the news, so I can hang out for the wedding."

"What are you doing now?" Ryo asked.

"FBI."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Ryo replied deadpan.

"You cops all think like that," Kevin grumbled.

"With good reason," Ryo laughed. "Relax. I have a very dear friend who is FBI. She managed to get Dee and me to work quite a few of her cases over the years. And currently she has Dee working on a case for her to keep him off the streets."

"Well then, you've been properly contaminated," Kevin said. He changed his voice to continue, "Come to the dark side, Ryo."

Ryo laughed. "Hey guys, I just got to say thanks. I mean for treating everything so normal."

"I'll admit when I first heard the name Dee, I thought woman," Eddie stated. "But hell, Akemi's family has Carriers. We have a nephew from her brother. And it's most likely our kids all are too, because of her. So I can't freak out over stuff like that, in case one year, one of my sons comes home with news like Dee's."

Kevin sighed. "I was one. Carrier, that is. But being 35, still single and not finding Mr. Right yet to have kids with, I doubt I could now."

Ryo looked at Kevin. "Did you know back then?"

"Yeah, but I was afraid to admit it to you guys. You both had girlfriends, just like all the others, so…" Kevin shrugged. "I made like I was dating girls too." He turned his head to fix his eyes on Ryo. "Took me a few years to finally get to the point of not caring what people thought. So I decided to get out of the Army before I was asked to leave, and applied for the FBI. I'll admit I was shocked to hear you're getting married to a man. Did you know back then?"

Ryo shook his head. "I should have, but I was in total denial of half of myself," he replied. "Until Dee. I can admit I'm bisexual now, but Dee's the only male I've been with."

Eddie smiled. "Well, from our brief encounter, he seems like a keeper, Ryo."

"Oh he is," Ryo said with a soft smile.

"And the reason why we are," Eddie announced as he pulled the car up to the curb by a fire hydrant, "…here. We need to cuff you again."

A petite Japanese woman came over as they got out of the car. "Ryo!" she exclaimed. She hugged and kissed his cheek. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

Ryo hugged her back. "Same here, darling. I hear Eddie's been treating you well."

"Very. You and I catch up tomorrow. Hai?"

Ryo nodded. "Hai."

"Excuse me. I need to take the car now."

She smiled up at him, then after going to give Eddie a quick kiss, got into the car. As she pulled out, Kevin cuffed Ryo again.

"Okay, you. Party time!" Eddie said, giving Ryo a slight push forward.

Kevin and Eddie guided Ryo to a refurbished brownstone that had a steakhouse on the main and upper floors. Instead of going up the stairs to the steakhouse, they went down the stairs to the basement, where there was a club.

"Blame it all on your uncle," Kevin snickered as they pushed Ryo into the darkened entrance.

They entered the club, Ryo blinking his eyes from the darkness of the small hallway they came from. "SURPRISE!" was yelled out.

Ryo grinned, his eyes scanning the faces of everyone gathered before him. His uncle was there, along with his partners from CI. There were some other detectives and uniforms that he had gotten to know over the years at the 27th. Pedro and Adriano were there, standing next to David. He noticed Barry was also there. Along with many other people Ryo knew, including some of his cousins from his generation from the MacLean family. To his surprise, he recognized a few of his cousins from Japan.

Rick came over to him and noticed where his nephew's eyes had settled. "They came in a few days earlier than the rest of the family to be here for this party," he said with a smile.

Ryo was grinning as the rest of the guests came over to greet him. Eddie released him from the cuffs and he started to shake hands and pat backs of people he had seen recently, along with some he had not seen, except for pictures, for at least a few years. He was overwhelmed, especially at the people who had traveled a distance to be there. By the time he finished greeting everyone, he found himself with his first drink of the evening.

Rick grasped Ryo by his arm, chuckling at his nephew and lead him to a huge chair fixed up to look like a throne. "This, my boy, is your chair for the night. Now have a seat and we can get this show to start."

"What show?" Ryo asked as everyone sat down at tables scattered around the club.

Rick cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Randy Ryo MacLean – THIS IS YOUR LIFE!"

Ryo's eyes went wide as the lights dimmed in the club. "Uncle Rick," he hissed low in warning.

To Ryo's surprise, a spotlight fell on a figure that walked to the center of the floor. A figure that revealed itself to be a drag queen. Ryo studied the face hard, trying to figure out if it was anyone he knew, but drew a blank.

"Good evening everybody," the drag queen announced, obviously the MC for the event. "My my my, we have a fine selection to go around. I'm Mimi Aflame, and I'll be your MC for tonight."

_She_ walked around the club, checking out everyone, making a few comments at each table. Finally the MC came over to Ryo.

"And you… it's a damn shame you're taken. It's true what they say, you know. Isn't that right, ladies? All the best men are either taken or gay. It's more terrible to us girls to find a few of those men who are both." The drag queen sighed heavily.

"He's bisexual," JJ's voice called out to laughs.

"Same thing. He's getting married to a man, isn't he? I'll have to keep looking then." The drag queen turned toward JJ. "What about you, sweetie? Are you free?"

Everyone laughed again. Except Drake, who decided to drink from his glass.

"Uh… well, I'm sorta dating," JJ remarked, which elicited a few surprised gasps. "No one any of you perverts know," he added hastily.

"I was afraid there for a moment," Ferguson called out to JJ from his table with a few other cops, including Janet and her partner. "I was wondering who else out of CI could get Teh Gay!"

Everyone from the 27th Precinct laughed, including Chief Smith, who was also present with his wife.

JJ sat back down. "No."

Ryo covered his face and laughed.

Mimi looked back to Ryo. "Nice shirt there. Did you buy that yourself?" Everyone laughed, some just noticing Ryo's shirt. There were teasing jeers and comments thrown at him.

"No." Ryo looked over to the tables that the others from CI were sitting. "One of them did."

Mimi turned to JJ. "Was it you?"

"No ma'am," JJ replied with a grin. "That would be Ted." JJ pointed to Ted.

"Ah, Ted… Are you taken?"

"Nope. But I'm not gay either. Or bisexual," Ted remarked with a smirk.

"That's okay. Give me a year and I'll look you up after the operation," Mimi said and blew him a kiss.

JJ almost spit out his drink, while Drake and Marty started to howl in laughter. Ted turned beet red as everyone else laughed, including Ryo. Already he was enjoying himself and they barely got started.

"Look! Ted's face is the same color as his hair!" JJ announced.

"My hair's not that red, dumbass!" Ted quipped, then hid his face to take drink from his glass.

Mimi waited until everyone settled down some and turned her attention to Ryo. "I was asked to MC this fine event, but I don't know this delicious specimen of manhood. So I asked if one of his friends could help me out. Especially if I'm supposed to take him for a stroll down memory lane. So, without further adieu, I'd like to bring out the witty and beautiful – Diana Spacey."

"Oh my God…" Ryo uttered as he watched Diana come out in a flashy sequined tight dress with her cleavage spilling out and stiletto heels. Ryo could almost hear Dee's voice say something about her breaking the dress code even with club wear. He snickered at the thought.

"Didn't I warn you that she was beautiful?" Mimi asked.

Diana giggled. "Good evening everyone. It's nice to see everyone in such an informal setting. We must do this more often. Now, we do have a show to put on." Diana came up and kissed Ryo on his cheek. "Hi cutie. This is your night. So just sit back and enjoy."

She looked out to the gathered guests and started her speech. "Ryo was born Randal Ryo MacLean, to Franklin MacLean and Rayna Yoko Aoki on November 25th… we'll leave the year out on account of the privacy act… in New York City. He was called Randy or Ryo by his parents and family. If you ask him, he'll say he's a true blue New Yorker, but he did spend a few years here and there outside of New York. The first of which was during this first five years, he spend a few years in Kamakura, Japan, in the home of his mother's mother. Even when he returned to New York with his parents, little Ryo's favorite songs were Japanese."

She looked back to Ryo to see how he was holding up. She knew his parents were a touchy topic and was hesitant, but Ryo's aunt and uncle assured her it was okay. To her relief, Ryo was smiling, obviously the memories coming back to him.

"So now, we're going to let everyone present get to hear what Ryo's favorite songs were when he was five years old."

Diana stepped back to stand next to Ryo's chair. "You okay, cutie?"

Ryo nodded. "Yeah," he said, then smiled. "I am. I'm really okay."

"Bring out the singers, if you will."

Ryo's eyes went wide, then he laughed and finally joined in the applause as several drag queens dressed as geishas came out and started to sing three songs that Ryo remembered would calm him down whenever he heard them. Whether it be on the stereo, or sung by his mother and grandmother, or Elena, who taught herself the words, it would always make Ryo feel happy.

He sat back, his spirits humming as the first of the entertainment performed for his bachelor party.

* * *

"Hey…. This is where that ghost thing appears," Dee said, munching on the squid flavored rice chips that Bikky had picked up during his snack run. He smirked as Bikky tried to be not too obvious as he moved closer to Dee.

More than the ghost thing appeared that Dee forgot about since the last time he saw the movie. He ended up moving closer to Bikky, while Biks tried not to scream.

There was a lull in the movie, while two sets of eyes peered at the TV screen, watching for any sign of what might happen next.

Both jumped with a yelp when the doorbell rang. "Huh?" Dee asked, looking at the door.

"Ryo said we're not allowed to open the door when he's not home," Bikky reminded him.

"But…" The doorbell rang again. Dee started to get up. Someone screamed on the TV.

Bikky jumped up and grabbed onto Dee's arm. "Dee, no!"

They heard keys in the first lock. Dee checked the time. "That can't be Ryo already."

The second lock opened. Dee looked to the bedroom. Despite what he was told about using it while pregnant, his gun was still in the lockbox in the closet with Ryo's. He started for the bedroom, gesturing for Bikky to go with him when he heard the last lock being unlocked. As they reached the bedroom door, they heard a voice call out.

"Dee? It's me, sweetling. Aunt Elena."

Dee sagged against the bedroom door. "Holy crap, Elena! You scared the shit outta us."

Bikky stood, still clinging to Dee, nodding his head.

Elena stood in the living room, holding onto a shoulder cooler bag. She peered at the two across the darkened room, standing in the doorway leading to Dee and Ryo's bedroom, then at the TV.

"Well, it's no wonder why your both spooked out of your wits. Last I checked, you two were not allowed to watch this type of movies, unless you had the lights on and a supervising adult present. And with good reason."

"The so-called supervising adult won't let us watch them even with him present," Dee remarked, going back to the couch and grabbed a handful of chocolate covered caramel popcorn.

Bikky plopped down on the couch next to Dee and picked up the remote to stop the DVD, making sure it was bookmarked for the next time they were able to watch it.

Elena sighed, much as she would to Dani and Stefen. "That's because Ryo doesn't want to deal with one or both of you having nightmares. Once you finally understand that it's only fantasy and things like that don't happen, you'll be able to watch them."

Bikky and Dee traded knowing looks. "Realist," Bikky muttered.

Dee nodded. "I know where Ryo got it from."

Elena shook her head, having heard of their adventures in England. She went over to a floor lamp and turned it on. "Anyway, I decided to bring a few things over so you can have snacks while Ryo's at his bachelor party." She looked at the coffee table. "I see you already have snacks. Does Ryo allow all this to be kept in here?"

Dee shrugged.

"Did you go out on your own?" Elena flashed accusing eyes on Dee.

"No ma'am," Dee uttered. "Uh… Bikky did. I sent him out to get everything for us." Dee felt foolish because a 14 year old boy could go out at night while he couldn't.

Elena was starting to pick up things from the table. "Sushi, Dee?" she asked, holding up a half eaten bento box.

"California roll," Dee corrected. "Imitation crab meat."

"It's still fish and you have no idea if it's been properly cooked or not. And what was in this box?" Elena asked, pointing to a smaller empty bento box.

Dee sweat dropped. "Aw crap. So I had a few spiced tuna rolls."

Elena's eyes flashed at Dee as she collected all she could hold and stormed to the kitchen.

Dee looked down at what was left and said to Bikky. "Grab whatever you want and run to your room."

"No shit," Bikky replied, already getting what he wanted, then grabbed a plastic shopping bag on the side of the couch and jumped up to head toward his room.

Dee got up and went into the kitchen. He found Elena taking out a plastic shopping bag from the holder hanging on the wall. "Elena, please. It was only a few, like four. It's not like I eat it everyday."

Elena turned and glared at Dee. "Only when no one is around to tell you not to, right Dee?"

Dee's look was rueful as he nodded. "And that's not very often these days. Especially with that sonovabitch out there."

Elena shook the bag at him. "Don't you understand? Dammit, Dee. Look, I'm not going to tell Ryo. But unless you promise me not to eat any of that stuff again, I swear to God, I will go and tell your mother."

Dee's mouth hung. "Aw c'mon, Elena. You're not playing fair!" he protested.

"I don't have to always play fair. Look, I may act like a good friend, but I'm your aunt. That means I look after you and do what's right. Not only for you, but for that baby of yours."

"Ah shit," Dee remarked, rolling his eyes.

Elena hit him with the plastic bag. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young man. You're lucky I don't give you a good wallop like I give Ryo when he does that shit. And I don't care if you're 30-something and having a baby of your own. Ryo is still my baby, and through time, you've become the same. You got that?! I don't want a repeat of what happened last month. God knows what could happen to you or the baby. And where would that leave Ryo, huh?"

Dee sighed heavily. "I honestly didn't think it would hurt to have once in a while. I mean, I do tell Vince." He held his hands up defensively. "I do! Even if I don't put it in the journal."

"You don't put it in there so Ryo won't know about it."

"I can't help it!" Dee burst out. "You know what it's like to have cravings. And for something that the craving won't go away and everyone is continuously telling you that you can't have…. And I'm stuck here like a friggin' prisoner and can't go anywhere without a fuckin' bodyguard and I'll be too afraid to try, so I hope to relieve some of the tension by sending Bikky out when there's a chance and…. Oh God!" Dee covered his face with his hand and turned away from Elena.

Elena watched as Dee's shoulders heaved. She put the bag down and carefully came up behind Dee, wrapping her arms around the sobbing man. "Shhh baby boy. It's okay. I know it's hard but everyone wants you to stay safe. Even you admitted to wanting to stay safe."

Dee nodded, still covering his face with his hand.

Elena turned him around. "It's okay to cry, sweets. It's all part of having a baby, so don't be afraid. Are you afraid of being pregnant?" When Dee shook his head, she asked, "Are you ashamed?" Again Dee shook his head.

He removed his hand from his face and hugged Elena, leaning down to rest his head on her shoulder and started to sob more.

Elena moved them to a stool by the breakfast bar and sat Dee down, allowing him to hug her as he cried. She rubbed his back in soothing strokes while murmuring it was okay over and over.

When Dee finally pulled his head away from her to wipe his nose with the sleeve of his jersey he was wearing, Elena reached over to grab a paper towel and handed it to him. "Sorry sweetness, but this is all that's in reach for now."

Dee accepted it and blew his nose. "It's fine. I'm sorry, Elena. I didn't plan to start bawling like a baby on you." Dee had noted that while it felt different than from when Ryo would comfort him, knowing there was someone there who genuinely cared about him helped much.

"It's okay, Dee. Remember, I was there twice."

"But you're not a man."

Elena brushed the hair off his face. "So? Real men aren't afraid to cry. And real men aren't afraid to have babies either. Don't think of yourself as less than the man you are, Dee, just because you need a good cry sometimes. Or because someone else has to protect you, while you protect your baby. I already respected you, Dee. But ever since you first told us about the baby and seeing you go through this without having a thought otherwise, my respect for you grew. And I'm so damn proud of you, sweetling. So happy that my nephew found someone like you to spend the rest of his life with."

Dee smiled up at Elena, tears still shining in dark green eyes, making them glitter. "Thanks, Elena. I mean it. For everything."

"Of course, darling one. After all, you're my nephew now too. Especially Carrying that sweet little great niece or nephew of mine."

Elena went to the fridge and took out a bottle of apple juice, grabbing two glasses and sat down next to Dee.

Dee watched as she poured them some apple juice and smiled again as he accepted the glass she held out to him. After taking a few sips, he asked, "How did you deal with it?"

"Craving stuff I couldn't have?"

Dee nodded.

Elena grinned ruefully. "Ask Rick," she said with a laugh. "You know me, Dee. I was a bear, of course. I think there were times when Rick didn't think _he_ would survive my pregnancy."

Dee chuckled. "I can believe that."

Elena caressed his cheek in a motherly manner. "I'm sure Ryo will wonder the same thing at least once before this baby is born. Don't worry about it. It's good for them." She winked at him. "It'll help him build more character."

Dee laughed. "You're too much."

Elena winked once more, grinning.

"Did you ever give in?"

Elena sighed. "Of course I did. Ryo's mom did too." She rolled her eyes. "Oh boy, did Ryo's mom give in at times. Rick and Ryo still blame her for my cravings when I finally got pregnant – years after his mom passed away. I think Ryo was ready to leave the police force and enlist back in the Army just to get away from me. And my mother came down on Ryo's mom because her own mother was in Japan. And she came down on me, of course. Just like I did on you." She smiled. "Just as you will to Dani one day, or your own little girl, if you have one. Maybe even to Ryo one of these years, if he manages to conceive your baby."

"Yeah. I guess," Dee said softly. Unconsciously, he rubbed his tummy.

Elena smiled. "I don't mean to unsettle you more, but every time I see you lately, whether it's a week or a few days, you're blossoming more."

Dee nodded. "I gave up on not looking pregnant for my wedding. I realized that's not so important after all. As long as I marry Ryo and have his baby, it's all good. So I chose a suit that would enhance that there's a baby instead of hiding it. Besides, it's not as if everyone doesn't know, so why hide it?"

"You're still very handsome, Dee. And I'm sure Ryo finds you very sexy." She laughed as she watched Dee blush. "Oh come now. I know it's true. Especially if he's anything like his dad. Or his Uncle Rick."

"Elena! I don't need to know that," Dee laughed.

Elena winked at him. "Now before you get the thought in your head that I cheated and I still had two healthy babies, I want you to think about this too. I think we both know at least one person who smoked throughout their entire pregnancy and still gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby. Does that mean you want to take that chance?"

Dee shook his head. "It was hard to quit at the time I did, even if cigarette smoke started to nauseate me, but… It was my choice, not Ryo's, not Vince's. Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Just remember that. Now, Ryo's grandmother in Japan sent me some recipes of food, including fish, that is approved for pregnancy. I made a few things and it's now sitting in that cooler in the living room. So how about it? Feel like having some Japanese food with me?"

Dee grinned and hugged her. "I sure would. Let's go."

* * *

The party had progressed to Ryo's young adulthood, discreetly skipping over that fateful day he had lost his parents, and they were up to his Army days. Diana and Mimi had Eddie and Kevin with them, to help them out, as they reminisced through their time spent in Camp Zama, including some embarrassing stories. Much to Ryo's surprise, they had also brought out an ex-girlfriend of his, who sang Ryo's favorite Japanese song of the time.

"It was 4 months before Ryo was to return to the U.S. and looking forward to enter the New York Police Academy when one of his best buddies announced he was getting married," Mimi said.

"I do believe that was you," Diana said to Eddie.

Eddie laughed. "Yes, it was."

"I understand it was a bit of whirlwind romance," Diana remarked.

"Very."

"And instead of making it a long engagement, you decided you had to be married before Ryo left, so he could be your best man. Am I right?" Diana asked.

"You most certainly are."

"So what happened next?"

Eddie rolled his eyes and looked at Kevin, before both men grinned at Ryo. "My best man threw me a bachelor party."

"Oh?" Diana asked. "What was it like?"

"Raunchy from the very start. Not like this, where we're building up to the raunchy," Eddie replied.

Chuckles went around the room. The guys from CI cheered Ryo on for a raunchy bachelor party for his Army buddy. All eyes of those in the spotlight turned to Ryo.

"Hey, I was Army at the time," he defended with a silly grin.

Diana took a step up to Ryo. "I'm going to put the pressure on you, cutie. What was the highlight of the evening? Do you remember?"

Ryo shook his head, laughing. "Oh my God."

"Tell us. Either you do, or Eddie will," Mimi cajoled.

"Yeah, Ryo," Ted called out. "What was the major naughty that you provided for that party?"

"Inquiring minds want to know," Jim called out.

"Well, I happened to have heard from some of the guys about this girl from Thailand that would perform for parties in the barracks over at the Navy Base. So I went over to Atsugi to inquire about her and… got her to perform for Eddie's bachelor party."

"Do you remember her name?"

Ryo rolled his eyes. "There's some things you never forget. Martha. She went by Martha." His eyes widened. "Oh no! You didn't…." He put his hand over his face.

Eddie and Kevin broke out in laughter. Eddie grinned wickedly. "Dude, that was the best damn entertainment we had ever! I just had to pay you back for that favor. We found out she's still hanging out in Atsugi and performing for the military guys over in the Kanto Plain. I just had to fly her in. So…." He looked at Diana.

Diana laughed. "Let's bring out Martha and see what's so special about her performances."

A petite, but vivacious woman with long brown hair sauntered into the spotlight, wearing thigh high white boots and a micro mini-dress. A pole and a counter was rolled up as the sultry music started. She had an exotic, sensual face with wide dark eyes and pouty lips. Men in the club already had their attention fixed on her.

The woman hypnotized her audience, including the men who had previously seen her perform. Diana noted with a giggle that Ryo was leaning forward in his chair to watch her every move. Even the women seemed intrigued with the familiar, yet exotic moves of the dancer as she stripped down to paisties, but kept her skirt on.

In the second half of the song, she used the pole to hoist herself up onto the counter to continue her dance. She turned her back to the audience and bent down slowly. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Ryo.

Everyone in the club gasped loudly as a ping pong ball shot from her lower regions and flew across the room, hitting Ryo on the forehead. Ryo fell back, laughing, then started to applaud. The rest of the men followed his example, starting to cheer and clap their hands. Men were standing. Several more ping pong balls flew across the room, hitting random guests. Including JJ, who was shocked when the ball hit him. He remained still, with his mouth hanging open, the ball on the table next to his hand that griped his glass. Ryo noticed it and bent over in laughter, hoping to hell that whoever was taking pictures for the night got JJ's expression on camera.

Drake picked up the ball and popped JJ lightly on the head, making the smaller man jump and then glare at Drake, who laughed more.

At the end of the song, everyone, except for a few still shocked ladies, were on their feet, whistling and applauding. Martha jumped off the counter and ran to Ryo, giving him a big hug and kiss.

"Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," Ryo laughed. He glanced up at Eddie, who was smirking and laughed more.

Martha was asked to sit down and join in on the rest of the party.

"Well now…." Diana remarked, seeming slightly stunned herself. "I want to know your secrets," she said to Martha, who was now seated at a table with a few others from Ryo's old unit. "I have money. Lots of it, and willing to pay."

"Me too!" Rose called out from his table in the back.

Diana laughed.

"Well, well well. I'm not sure how we're to top that," Mimi said, "but we'll try." I think everyone needs to take a break now, 'cause I'm sure most of us need a drink – or five – by now. There's food along the far wall over there. We'll pick up things in about a half hour. But be warned. Little Ryo is all grown up now. So from this point all, it's all going to be grown up fun! See you in a half hour!"

Ryo thought he was going to wet himself from laughing. He stood up to excuse himself to the men's room, then figured he'd get more to drink, some food and make his rounds to mingle. He was having a great time. Even at the big skip. To others, it might not have seemed obvious, but it was to him.

On the way out of the restroom, he looked up to the ceiling. "Oh Mom… Dad… just so you know. I feel so damn lucky these days. And it's all going to be fine now." He smiled and went back into the main room to be met by his uncle.

"Holding up?"

Ryo hugged Rick. "Thanks so much! This is an awesome party!"

Rick laughed and hugged Ryo back.

"I guess I should go and mingle with my guests, huh?"

"Of course. And refill your glass, while we're at it," Rick laughed.

Ryo went first over to the CI guys, who were gathered in the far corner of the bar.

"Whoa, what a party, dude!" Marty announced.

"Can you get me that chick's number?" Ted asked.

"Forget it, dude," Drake remarked. "Unless you're planning on moving to Japan."

"Yeah," JJ added. "Who would stay in the U.S. for you, man."

"Why you little twerp," Ted growled as the other laughed.

As Ryo continued to mingle, he made a note to talk to his uncle and Barry, to see if there was a party planned for Dee and if so, could it be possible to have Martha do one more performance. He felt guilty for enjoying himself, unless Dee was offered the same pleasure of watching Martha do her dance.

* * *

It was after 3 am when Rick finally poured his partied out nephew home. They found Dee sleeping on the couch, waiting for Ryo.

Elena was sleeping in the guest room. Earlier in the evening, after hearing that she was to drive Rick home after the party, Dee decided they were to both stay for the night, since Dani and Stefen were at a friends for the weekend. Elena looked grateful at Dee's offer and did not attempt to protest.

Dee opened his eyes to look up at his husband-to-be and uncle. He wrinkled his nose as he sat up. "Phew, you both smell like a friggin' bar," he exclaimed.

"That's 'cause we spend the night in one," Ryo drunkenly replied as he dropped on the couch next to Dee.

"Club, Ryo. We were in a club. A very fashionable one, at that."

"Of course, Uncle Rick. I'll remember that," Ryo grinned and laughed.

Dee shook his head. "Elena is in the guest room. I told her you're both staying here overnight. So perhaps you should let your wife know you more or less made it back in one piece?"

Rick grinned and ruffled Dee's hair. "You're a good boy, Dee. That's why you're marrying my nephew."

"Yes sir," Dee simply said, trying not to smile.

"G'night Ryo. G'night, Dee. Hold on, Elena… I'm coming."

Ryo giggled.

Dee smirked. "Do we need to know that?"

"Relax," Ryo said, putting his arms around Dee's neck. "He's too drunk to do anything but pass out in there."

"Ahh… gotcha." Dee rubbed his nose next to Ryo's. "And you?"

"I'm willing to negotiate."

"I'm glad you put it that way," Dee replied, pushing himself away from Ryo. "Because you're going to have to do something about that smell or else I'll be too sick to do anything."

"Aww Dee," Ryo pouted.

Dee laughed. Ryo was cute when he was drunk. And usually ended up being a very horny drunk. However, the smell of stale alcohol and the smoke in Ryo's clothes did not fare well for Dee.

"Jesus! Were you smoking?" Dee asked. "I thought you couldn't smoke in clubs."

"We all went out to the back patio and had a cigar in my honor," Ryo replied. He grinned. "Me too!"

Dee rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh. Ryo's enthusiasm was from the alcohol.

"Then at other times of the night, I was talking to someone and followed them out while they had a smoke on the patio," Ryo added. He tried to drape his arms around Dee again. "Mmm…. I wanna kiss you. Damn baby, there were strippers and pole dancers and naughty games and… well… let's just say I'm horny now." He leered at Dee.

Dee pulled away again and sat up, stretching. Ryo's eyes watched and he put his hand out to rub Dee's bump. "Are you trying to make me hornier?" he grinned.

"Maybe," Dee remarked. "But put it all on hold, lover." He grabbed the hand resting on his tummy and pulled Ryo to his feet. "First, how about shower time and brushing your teeth. If you brush your teeth first, I might see what I can do about helping with the shower."

"Shower sex! Let's go!" Ryo exclaimed, pulling Dee toward their bedroom, weaving along the way.

Dee shook his head. But he knew the night was going to be interesting before they finally fell asleep. He decided he would do his best to do his party in making it interesting.

* * *

A/N: Some notes about Ryo and Dee's backgrounds in this fic. According to stats by Sanami Matoh during the time of FAKE's run in BexBoy magazine, Ryo's birthday is listed as November 25th. I try to add in as many of what the stats say, treating them like canon. While we're at it, Dee's favorite food is listed as sushi, and later in an "interview" with Dee (supposedly in his handwriting – in Japanese), he mentions that fact about sushi too. I know it was in Japanese only because magazine was published in Japan, to a Japanese audience, by a Japanese manga-ka, but still, it gave me food for thought once I managed to get that interview. That is where I decided that in my fic, Dee can speak, read and write Japanese, and in this fic, went as far as having him accepted in a Japanese college (and after research, Yokohama National University does accept foreign students for 4 and 5 years programs). Meanwhile, even if it hasn't been mentioned yet, but Ryo's favorite food is shichi – a Japanese stew. I think one day in a future chapter, Dee is going to make it for Ryo as a "just because I love you" type meal. The rest of their backgrounds are my imagination, and hopefully fits the characters. Oh, and I put Ryo in the Army because of what he said in that first case with Dee, about learning how to make bombs from an Army buddy. Being ex-military, I'm used to hearing something like that and referring to someone you served with, as opposed to a friend who is in the Army. I know I stretched one thing a little, because I tried to work it out with someone who is a FAKE fan in the Army (thank you, irishKaoru). I wanted Ryo to have his roots in sniper training while in the Army, but also seeing him more as being an SP, because of his eventual goal of becoming a cop. Sniper training would have been through Special Forces. So I stretched and had him go off for specialized training at some point, but then going back to his SP unit. Also in that interview with Dee, he says he doesn't own a car. So they don't have a car in this fic. For now. Besides, I know what a pain in the ass it is to have a car in NYC, and to park it in Manhattan if you're not rich is a nightmare. Anyway, there are times when it's faster to go without a car in Manhattan. That's the benefit of the subway.

Keep an eye for an update on this part. I have comments to reviews, but I wanted to get this posted tonight, and I doubt I'll be finished with the comments until tomorrow. So, hopefully tomorrow, there will be comments here. If not, then I'll include them with the next chapter. Which I'm hoping will be sooner than usual.

Later!


	17. The Big Bus

Ryo walked down a street in Tribeca, holding Dee's hand as they strolled at a leisurely pace

Title: The Unexpected II

Chapter Chapter 17 – The Big Bus

Rating: R

Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo

Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read! Once again, there's mention of naughty games men play and an exotic dancer with an interesting talent.

Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Beta by Dawn.

* * *

**March 4, 2006**

Ryo walked down a street in Tribeca, holding Dee's hand as they strolled at a leisurely pace. They were with Rick and Elena, who had decided to take advantage of their stay over. JJ had dropped Dee off from work. When he entered the apartment he found Ryo, Elena and Rick waiting for him. Ryo was looking more human than he had when Dee last saw him in the morning. Both Dee and Elena had some fun teasing him that morning as Elena made them breakfast. Rick was still asleep, and Dee assumed Ryo would be going back to bed after Dee left for work. Dee and Elena continued to tease the two men when Dee returned home.

Not long after Dee was home, Ryo suggested they all go out for a walk. They ended up browsing through some art galleries. Dee looked happy to be out and not stuck in the house because they had no appointments for the wedding. Dee was told that at some point, they'd decide on where to eat dinner. Behind Dee's back, Ryo and Rick were giving each other signals as they came to the street they were supposed to have Dee at that time.

They shared a look as they noticed from the other end of the street, a group of Japanese tourists, all with cameras, that had just turned the corner. The group was making their way down the street towards them.

Ryo smirked as he recognized his cousins and Akemi among other strange faces. The group came upon them and suddenly they were swarmed. Dee was pulled from Ryo during the chaos and found himself surrounded by the Japanese tourists, all chatting away at the same time in Japanese as they circled Dee, taking pictures. One remark he was able to make out repeatedly was, "Handsome American pregnant man."

Dee flushed, realizing they were taking pictures of him, while they talked about him. He frantically looked over their heads to find Ryo.

His eyes finally rested on Ryo. His husband-to-be stood on the outer edge of the group, looking smug and amused. Elena and Rick also seemed to be enjoying some joke. He heard a comment directed to him in Japanese, using his name. Dee turned his head to seek out who spoke to him.

In the corner of his eyes, he noticed a large silver bus pull to the curb of a no parking zone not far from them.

He heard his name again and suddenly he saw three men stepping forward, grinning at him. Dee's mouth hung open for a moment, and then as he snapped it shut, he slapped his forehead.

"Oh holy crap!" he exclaimed, covering his face and starting to laugh. He knew then that he was being set up.

He heard laughter from all around him, including from Ryo and his aunt and uncle. He removed his hand as everyone still laughed. Meanwhile his college friends greeted him.

"How the hell?" he asked, still stunned as Ryo found his way next to Dee.

"Barry, Rick and a little help from my cousins," Ryo laughed, hugging Dee's arm. He laughed harder at the thought of his cousins and Dee's friends finding a sizable group of Japanese tourists so Dee's college buds could hide among them, and not stand out immediately.

"Just like TV shows!" one of Dee's friends exclaimed in broken English.

Dee nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking." He laughed, still unable to believe his friends were there in New York City. Dee had kept in touch with them through the years in the form of writing letters and emailing. He sent them invitations to the wedding, but only as a formality, never expecting that his friends would actually make it. They all had all parted at graduation, intending for them to come to New York City one year soon, and Dee going back to Japan for a visit, but it just never had happened.

Until then. Dee was grinning like an idiot.

Yuki, one of Dee's friends was thanking the tourists in Japanese, while Ryo's cousins shook hands and bowed heads.

Ryo leaned up to kiss Dee. "Have fun. It's your turn, sweetheart."

Dee barely returned the brief kiss when he found himself being guided by Yuki and his two other friends, Hide and Ken, to the waiting bus. The four men were talking as they walked. It was then that Dee noticed the back window of the bus. It read, "Last Free Ride for Dee Laytner".

Ryo's cousins joined him and Elena, while Rick went on ahead of the small group of college friends after giving Elena a quick kiss. With his family, Ryo watched the group as they approached the bus. Not far from them, the tourists stood along a wall, also watching.

"Dee looks so happy to see his friends," Elena gushed excitedly.

"Yes, he does," Ryo replied. "But here I thought I was getting their email addresses to you so you could try to bring them in for just the wedding."

"This is part of the wedding, Ryo," Elena replied. "It's all part of this great final week of parties that will culminate with your wedding breakfast next Sunday."

Ryo shook his head. "If you insist." He was grinning. He had to admit that's how he felt. The night before, his bachelor party was the official kick off of a week of parties, ceremonies and celebrations all concerning the wedding. "My God," he whispered in awe. Even more than the night before, as he watched Dee, and read the message on the back of the bus, he knew this was it. They were in the home stretch and at the end of the whirlwind week, he was going to be married to Dee. They would be on their way to their honeymoon. "It's really happening."

Elena hugged him. "Of course, silly. It is happening. This is your and Dee's wedding week."

The door to the bus opened and a 6 foot tall stork came out. Dee's eyes went wide as he stepped back at step startled, then suddenly he burst out in laughter.

"Welcome to the Stork Express," the stork stated to Dee, shaking his hand.

Dee noted the hand was quite human as the strange looking stork stepped aside for Dee to get on the bus, followed by his friends.

Ryo was howling with laughter, not expecting the stork. He noticed Eddie and Akemi were now among the group left with him.

"I think it's time to go get some dinner," Elena said. "So where's the good Japanese restaurants around here?"

Ryo clicked his tongue. "How bad are we? We get rid of Dee, then go hit up a sushi bar." He grinned wickedly. "C'mon, I know just the place. Just don't tell Dee we were there. It's his favorite place and he's not allowed to go there until after the baby is born."

"No problem," Tsubasa, one of his cousins replied. "Then later on, we go to White Castle." The other cousins nodded their heads vigorously.

Elena laughed. "They almost remind me of Dee now! Yes, we'll have sushi now and White Castle for later."

"He's probably going to be eating all night long, but I guess I better bring home a little something from White Castle for Dee, just in case," Ryo stated. "Worse thing is he'll have to heat them up for lunch tomorrow.

The bus doors were closed. The little group waved to the tourists who were starting to leave as Ryo lead the way to where they were going to have dinner.

* * *

Once Dee cleared the bus doors, he found himself trapped in a Barry bear hug. His friends were behind him, and Rick had slipped into the bus ahead of Dee. The other man was laughing.

"Oh dude," Barry exclaimed, "you should have seen yourself out there!"

They heard laughing coming from Dee's college friends.

Barry released Dee and pointed to the sliding door that closed the bus off from the driver. "Once I open that door, it'll be like a college dorm party. Minus the booze, of course." Barry's grin included all four men cramped in the small space. "At least the way it's done in the U.S. Not sure about Japan."

Dee laughed. "Dude, we partied as hard as we studied."

His friends agreed enthusiastically.

"And the reason why we had military friends was because of these guys here," Dee continued, fondly reminiscing his college days. "They liked American beer and we got it cheap through our friends in the Navy."

"Here's the thing," Barry went on, "we're on a bus to keep you safe, and so you don't have to watch others drink in a club while you can't. But we have plenty to make up for that, so…." The big black man grinned wide. "Are you ready, Dee Laytner, for your last wild night as a free man?"

Dee looked at Barry as if he was crazy. "I haven't been a free man for five years." He smirked.

Barry draped his arm across Dee's shoulders. "You were free, meaning without any legally binding contracts. As of this time next Saturday, that's all going to change, bro."

Dee's own grin was huge. "Yeah. I know."

The Japanese men with them slapped Dee on his back. "Get in there," Hide remarked. "We want to party."

Ken slid the door open to reveal all the guests standing and waiting for Dee. Everyone started to applaud when Dee stood in the doorway.

He saw everyone from CI and some others from the 27th, including Ferguson, and much to Dee's surprise, Hernandez. There were a couple of people from his former precinct that he kept in touch with, including his former partner when he was on patrol. He noticed Pedro and Adriano, Vince and David and a few others. Dee quickly estimated they probably came close to full capacity. While he noticed there were women that he worked with present, unlike what he heard about Ryo's party, no one had dates, unless it was a significant other who was also a friend of Dee's.

Leather couches ran down along each side of the bus, broken by tables. Way in the back was another leather couch, curved to go around the back end of the bus with a large screen plasma TV on the back wall. The lighting made the bus resemble a small club.

At Barry's urging, Dee started to walk through the bus, greeting his guests. On the tables were finger food and non-alcoholic beverages in tubs with ice.

The stork was the last to enter the bus and instructed everyone to sit because the bus was going to be moving. They all had a laugh as the stork went through a flight attendant's routine, fitted for their situation. Dee had been told to sit on the couch at the end, with some of CI on one side of him and his Japanese friends on the other. He was set up with a fancy plastic cup of ginger ale, embellished with cherries and melon balls on a swizzle stick that had a penis on the end. Dee laughed when he first noticed the stick, and looking around realized that others had the same type of stick with their drink. He was handed a plate with mini knishes, cheese puffs and fried vegetable won tons for the start of his meal. As the bus started on its journey, music was playing, but at a volume that everyone could talk.

Dee had noticed the look of surprise his old partner, Mitch, had when the other man first saw Dee enter. Dee was still wearing his coat, but had it open, revealing a long dark blue cotton button up shirt over dark jeans, with the noticeable bump beneath it. Dee caught Mitch's attention as they sat and talked.

"Holy shit, Laytner!" Mitch exclaimed from his place, still staring at Dee in amazement. "You're fuckin' preggo, man. Holy shit, Dee Laytner is pregnant! I'd have never thought."

Dee laughed. "Neither had I, until I found out I was." He smiled softly. "But I have no regrets."

Mitch studied him. "Can't say you look like you do. Good for you. It's good for ya," he remarked and laughed. "I'm going to assume you're getting married to the same guy who knocked you up."

"Wow," JJ said. "You've really been out of the loop about things, huh? Didn't you see the press conference Dee gave about the Carrier Killer?"

Mitch shook his head. "I have to say I missed that one. I'll admit I really don't keep up with news about Carriers, unless there's one involved with any of my calls. Not to say I have anything against them. And I also think that sick fuck needs to be found soon."

Dee nodded. "Me too. Anyway, yes the baby's other father is the guy I'm getting married to next Saturday." Dee could not help grinning at that. All that day, he was playing a game in his mind. He'd look at the time and try to imagine what he would be doing come the next Saturday. He could not help look at the time. "In fact, at this time next Saturday, we'll be in the middle of the ceremony."

"That would be Ryo, the guy you were partnered with for the last five years or so?" Mitch asked.

"Yup. That would be him," Dee replied.

Mitch laughed. "Damn, better him than me," he teased Dee.

"You were never my type, Mitch. I didn't waste my time on married people," Dee laughed.

The stork announced on a microphone that it was time for the first game. Barry handed out sheets of adult Mad Libs.

"Now the trick of this game is, you're all going to be paired off. I want you to think about your partner as you fill in the requested words," the stork instructed. "It doesn't matter that you don't know him or her very well. That's where the fun will come in. My trusty assistant will also have you pick an item from a bag. There's two of each item. So you get paired off with the person that has your selected item's twin. Go it?"

Barry picked up a cloth sack and went to the back of the bus. "It's your party, you get first pick," he said to Dee.

Dee reached into the bag and felt around. His mouth dropped for a moment, then he started to chuckle as he pulled out a studded cockring. He held it up as other guests laughed before realizing they would have to pull something out from the bag. Barry went to JJ next.

"Oh my God!" JJ exclaimed as he pulled out a man's g-string with bunny ears on the pouch.

"I have fuzzy handcuffs," Hide laughed.

"Me too," Drake remarked, shaking his head.

Barry was halfway through the guests, everyone making jokes about what was picked from the bag when the stork announced, "Before I forget. Whatever you picked, you get to keep. This is also the start of party favors."

JJ glanced slyly at Drake and grinned, while Drake tried to hide his blush behind taking another sip from his glass. Others made appropriate noises, including a few in Dee's direction about what he held in his hand.

"Hernandez has a g-string with bunny ears," they heard Chief's voice roar with laughter.

"Yikes," JJ remarked, sitting back in his seat.

"Oh dear Lord," Rose exclaimed, amused.

The music was lowered during the activities. They heard the sounds of sirens coming from outside the bus, and felt the bus slow down.

"What?" Chief asked. "It doesn't feel like we were speeding."

"Maybe the police will pick us up for the contraband," Yuki laughed.

"We are the police," Dee remarked. "A lot of us, at least."

The bus stopped and they heard the door open.

"Everyone remain calm," the stork instructed.

Two cops, a man and a woman, boarded the bus. Dee started to grin. He almost fell for it because of the sirens. They walked through the bus and stopped just before the back couch.

"Dee Laytner," the male cop asked, looking right at Dee.

Dee nodded. "That's me. What did I do, officer," Dee drawled. Everyone was snickering.

"You're getting married next Saturday," the lady cop replied. "You know what that means?"

Dee smirked. "That I won't be a free man anymore?" he asked.

"You're a smart son of a bitch, ain't ya?" the male cop asked. "But you're right. And for that, you deserve…."

The music started up again, louder, as both pseudo cops ripped open their shirts.

Dee broke out in laughter, going to cover his face, and hitting himself with the cockring he still held. Those who saw it, laughed hard. Grinning Dee watched the first of the evening's entertainment, along with his friends.

'Good God,' Dee thought as he joined the cheering and clapping. 'This is one helluva party already!'

Once the strippers left the bus, and it started back on its way around the city to its next stop, they continued with their Mad Lib game. There were no winners, just a lot of laughing and even more jokes, and everyone had a prize. After the game, as guests went to get more food and beverages, Vince sat down next to Dee.

"I'm glad I didn't have to catch the bus halfway through the evening," Vince chuckled.

"Ryo told me that last night you had a call just as you both were getting ready to leave," Dee said. "He was glad when you were finally able to make it."

Vince smirked at Dee. "I have a patient that is eight and a half months. He… mistook gas for labor pains." Vince raised a finger. "I get a lot of that. So don't you dare decide not to call because it seems silly. We don't want to take a chance of it actually being something serious. You got that?"

Dee raised his hands in defense. "Of course." He grinned ruefully. "Besides, you should know me and Ryo by now."

Vince chuckled as David came over with plates for Vince and Dee.

"Gee, like with Ryo, they got people from other parts of the world for this," David said as he sat down with Dee and Vince.

"Tell me about it!" Dee exclaimed. "The last people I expected to run into are these guys over here." He indicated his college friends with a jerk of his thumb.

"So they were exchange students?" Vince asked.

Dee shook his head. "I got accepted into a University in Yokohama. I figured that was my one big chance to get away from New York for a while, and see some place I was always interested in seeing."

"That's cool," David said. "I didn't attend college overseas, but I did manage to get a semester in Paris, studying art."

"I feel so left out," Vince sighed. "I went to college here in New York City."

"Don't feel bad," Yuki said to Vince. "I live in Yokohama, I went to school in Yokohama. I work in Yokohama."

Dee laughed. "Couldn't even get a job in Tokyo, huh?" he remarked and laughed more.

"That's Ken," Yuki said.

Dee nodded. "Ken owns a club in Roppongi, the club district in Tokyo," Dee explained to Vince, David and any of his other friends who were listening.

"That's awesome," JJ replied, joining in the conversation. "So if we ever make it to Japan, you'd let us party for free?"

"Dee could party for free. Everyone else gets a discount. Except for his husband. Ryo gets Dee's benefits," Ken replied.

Dee chuckled.

"That's good enough," JJ remarked. "I wonder what a club in Tokyo would be like. How different are they from here?"

Drake hit JJ on the head with a napkin. "I'd imagine the music would be in Japanese. So what type of music do you play in your club, Ken?"

Ken shared a grin with Dee and his other two friends. "American heavy metal."

Dee, Yuki and Hide fell into laughter, with Vince and David joining them.

Ken looked at JJ's face and chuckled. "But I have good connections with Japanese style clubs. I'll get you a discount for them."

"Great!"

"If you ever go to Japan, you dork," Drake said.

"Who are you calling a dork, dork?" JJ asked.

"Here they go again," Dee sighed. "You're both dorks. So can it already."

"We're staying until next Monday," Hide said to Dee. "So we can be at the wedding."

Dee looked amazed as Ken started to laugh. "The funny thing is, we flew here with Ryo's cousins," Ken said. "We became good friends now. And Kamakura is not far from Yokohama."

"Tsubasa works in Tokyo," Yuki supplied with a laugh.

Dee pretended to shudder. "I feel sorry for Tsubasa. That's a heck of a commute, especially if he's driving."

Everyone continued to talk until they felt the bus pull over again.

"This is our first real stop on this trip," Stork announced. "Smokers, or anyone who wants to stretch can get out at this time. We will be here for about fifteen minutes before departing for our next destination."

Barry came over to Dee. "We're on 52nd Street, off of First, in that nice little cul de sac that overlooks the FDR Drive. If you want to go out for some fresh air, I'll have the smokers move away some."

Dee smiled up at Barry, quite content with a platter of food on his lap and another exotic ginger ale, this time the swizzle stick having boobs on the end. Dee was also enjoying still being able to use his quickly disappearing lap while he was still able. "Nah. I'm fine hanging out here. Thanks Barry. Seriously. I was thinking if there was going to be a party, it'd be at someone's place. That would have been great. But this…." He spread his hands to indicate the bus. "This is awesome, Barry."

Barry grinned at Dee. "I had a little help from your soon to be uncle-in-law. Between the two of us, I think we managed to pull off a party that you'll be long in forgetting."

"It already is."

"Hey, anything for my brother," Barry replied. "Especially considering a little over five years ago, I'd have never thought you'd settle down enough to think about marriage."

"I just didn't find the right person yet," Dee said with a smile. "Now, I've been biting my tongue ever since I boarded this bus, trying really hard not to come off as rude, so don't take this the wrong way. But I really need to know."

"What's that?" Barry asked.

"What's with the dude in the stork costume?"

Barry laughed. "He's our MC for the evening. He's good with directing games, tells jokes, quick with the wit. Why not? Besides, having a giant stork aboard reminds everyone why we're not getting drunk tonight."

"Ah. Okay. I'll admit he is entertaining. I was just not expecting a stork." He smirked. "Looks strange. But I'll bet that was a reason too, huh?" He laughed.

Barry grinned. "You know me too well, Dee. Yup. The weirdness factor was taken into account. And he got a ten."

"I agree with you," Dee remarked. "Strange and weird fits our crowd."

"Speak for yourself," JJ remarked, then smirked when all eyes turned to him.

As those who went off the bus returned, some of them carried trays with more food and beverages.

"I hope everyone out there was quiet," Stork announced through the microphone. "We're on a nice residential street of the rich and famous. Speaking of, before we head on, we have a special treat for our guest of honor. A little _birdie_ told me," he paused for everyone to groan at his emphasis of 'birdie', "that Dee listens to some country music."

Dee groaned into his hand covering his face while his friends hooted and laughed.

"I guess that explains the cowboy boots on a New York City detective," Drake called out to more laughter.

"See? Even storks have their informants," Stork remarked. "I also found out that Dee's favorite country singer is Garth Brooks. Well Dee, you're in luck. Garth has decided to come out of retirement to grace this shindig in your honor. And I can't think of a better song for this gathering. So, here he is everyone… Garth Brooks!"

Dee did not for a minute believe they actually got Garth Brooks but he laughed as hard as the others and applauded as an impersonator who looked close to the real thing boarded. The Garth Brooks look-a-like was carrying a guitar and went into a rendition of "Friends In Low Places", encouraging everyone to sing along. It reminded Dee of back in his college days, when him and his friends would go to NAF Atsugi with their military friends. They spent quite a few nights sitting in the enlisted club, in the country section, drinking and singing along to that very same song. Before the song was over, Hide, Yuki and Ken all had joined Dee on the back couch, arms around shoulders and swaying back and forth, singing along. There was clapping and whistling for a minute after he was done. The impersonator wished Dee a long and happy marriage, added an additional congratulations on the baby and left the bus. Soon after, they were on their way to their next destination.

They were informed they were going over the 59th Street/Queensboro Bridge, into Long Island City. The bus stopped at Gantry Plaza State Park, which was on the East River, and boasted one of the prettiest views of the Manhattan skyline. On the bus, once again Barry walked up to each guest, having them pull an item out of a bag. This time it was condoms. There were ten types of condoms of four each. Everyone was asked to get off the bus and to gather with the others of the same condom type. Stork handed everyone a printed sheet of paper and instructed each team of four that they were to go on a scavenger hunt. On the paper was a list of sex toys they were to find. The catch was that there really were no sex toys hidden among the public park. Everyone had to use their imagination on picking whatever was available for taking in the park. Twenty minutes later, time was called and everyone went back on the bus.

As they went on their way to the next stop of the moving party, the teams were to show what they found and tell exactly which sex toy it was. The team that had the most items on the list that most resembled the real item won Mardi Gras bead necklaces with light up penises. The winning team, which consisted of Drake, Vince, one of the uniforms from the 27th and Yuki won.

Not yet at their next stop, Stork instructed Barry to take out a tray from the mini fridge to play their next game. The gay men groaned, the straight men whistled and the bisexual man laughed himself silly. On the tray were shot glasses with covers resembling a woman's nipple. Inside the shot glasses were butterscotch flavoring and French vanilla coffee creamer. "A cumshot inside a nipple," Stork described it as to groans and laughs. The contents were frozen enough to make the contents frosty. Everyone was to take a shot glass and the first one to empty it was the winner. Lots of laughter and comments were made, especially directed toward JJ, Vince, David, Adriano, Pedro and Yuki, who were the most verbal in protesting sucking on a female nipple.

"A nipple is a nipple," Dee stated with the air of experience. "So suck it up."

The last comment produced more laughs.

"I'm telling Ryo you said that," JJ huffed.

"Ryo knows he's the exception," Dee said with a shrug, then grinned.

Oddly enough JJ was the winner, and was given a booty call bag. Everyone laughed.

"Goes to show that when you can suck, you can suck, no matter what's in your mouth," Stork announced as he presented JJ with the prize.

"Shut up," JJ remarked, then giggled. He looked inside the bag, and grinned. One day he'll get to use the contents with Drake.

The next stop for the citywide party bus was in Whitestone, Queens where more food and drink were brought onboard, carried by several drag queens dressed as flashy 50's car hops, singing. Once they had the food set, they went into another song and danced, losing some of their costumes. At the end of their song, the drag queen who was standing directly in front of Dee, pulled out a small ball and chain on a necklace, and placed it around Dee's neck. "Too bad, I'm too late, stud," the drag queen said with a wink and left the bus with the others.

In the Bronx the bus stopped by Yankee Stadium.

After a ten minute stretch and smoke break off the bus, Stork announced, "Okay, our next bit of entertainment is boarding."

Three sultry women in belly dancing costumes entered the bus. The music played was more medieval, tracing back to belly dancers roots in the area that is now Romania. When the dance was over, one woman went up to Dee. She took one of her scarves off, and Dee found himself being blindfolded.

"Relax Dee," he heard Stork's voice over the mic say. "We just need to set up something without kicking you off the bus."

"Just as long as no one tries anything kinky, I'm fine," Dee said with a grin.

"Why?" Drake asked. "Not into kinky? Whatever are you going to do with that cockring, stud?"

"Shut up, Drake. _If_ I was into anything kinky, it's only with…."

"We know," Pedro cut him off. "Ryo. Guess this one's really a goner. We just need to throw him into next week and let him get married already."

"Please do," Dee stated with a smirk.

"I think we should make Dee play the texture game while things get set up," JJ said with a laugh.

"Hell no!" Dee remarked.

"YEAH YEAH!" Dee heard in chorus from the other guests, "Unless it's Ryo!" Everyone broke out in laughter, then laughed harder when Dee blushed.

"I was going to say that I know what the likes of you will use for texture and want to remind you that Uncle Rick is on this bus," Dee remarked.

"Oh, but we were going to use Uncle Rick," Adriano comment to more laughter.

"Aw crap," Dee sighed, shaking his head and laughing.

"Okay Dee," Stork announced. "You can remove the blindfold."

"Hey, it's my party and I have to do this alone!" Dee protested playfully.

"Here boy, if you're that helpless," Rick said with a laugh. He pulled the blindfold off Dee.

"What?" Dee asked, looking at his guests, noting that the belly dancers were gone.

Rick pointed to something hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the bus. "We're going to have to blindfold you again, I'm afraid, son."

Dee's eyes went wide. "Oh holy shit," he laughed as he stared at a two foot long penis piñata. "You're fuckin' joking me."

"You're seeing it, so we're not joking," Rick said with a laugh. "Okay, up on your feet you go. I think your doctor will agree you need some moderate exercise." He winked at Vince, who laughed, nodding his head.

As Dee stood up, Yuki came up to blindfold Dee again. "And here we go! This is going to be much fun!" Yuki exclaimed.

"We're going to be a bit boring," Barry said. "We'll be nice and not spin you around. But we are going to give you a nice pretty poker to use."

Everyone laughed as Barry placed a long pink glittery stick in Dee's hand, that had pink and black curled ribbons cascading down the stick.

"Oh man, I have a bad feeling about this," Dee groaned, feeling the ribbons brush against his hand.

"Stop wasting time. Now this should be easy since we didn't make you dizzy first," Rick said.

Dee still had a hard time finding the giant penis to break open, much to everyone's entertainment.

"Come on, Dee," Rose groaned, suppressing laughter. "I assume they do have to return the bus at some point this weekend."

Rose's comment was followed with more comments from the others among the laughter.

"How long does it take you to get a penis to burst?" Diana snickered.

"Give me a freakin' break here," Dee groaned. "I never thought I'd find myself trying to break open a penis with a stick." He went on to take a few more whacks at the penis piñata with the poker.

More laughs. "Whacking off, Dee?" Ted asked with a chuckle.

"Fuck you, Ted!" Dee struck at it, hopefully, again. And missed.

"Dee, remember this is only a game. Don't try to repeat this with your husband-to-be's penis, please."

"UNCLE RICK!" Dee gasped, scandalized.

"Just checking to make sure my nephew's family jewels stay intact," Rick said with a laugh.

"Don't worry, Rick," Chief said. "Your nephew already has produced an heir."

"True," Rick said.

"You people are crazy!" Dee exclaimed, taking another jab, hoping to break the piñata.

"We're not the ones with a glittery, pink, frilly poker trying to whack open a giant penis," Ferguson laughed.

"Argh!" The poker connected with the piñata and it burst open with a snap. Dee jumped back from the sound, both Barry and Rick placing a hand on him to steady him as miscellaneous sex items spilled out, raining down on the three.

Some of the items flew and hit or landed in the laps of guests, to everyone's laughter. Rick and Barry help Dee to his knees, still keeping him blindfolded. There were pillow packs of lube, condoms, colorful mini-vibrators, Mardi Gras beads with penises, boobs or condom packs dangling from them, penis and boob shaped candies, penis pops, naughty shaped mini soap bars, sample packs of massage oils, small plastic jars of "Tingly Nipple Nibblers" nipple creams, an assortment of regular candy, various other small naughty treats, along with streamers and glittery penis and boob shaped confetti. The three men, with those standing closest were sparkling under the pulsing bus lights from the confetti.

"Now, we'll give you 30 seconds to grab whatever you can get to. That will go into a bag for you to bring home to enjoy with your soon to be husband," Barry said.

"Don't forget to pack some for the honeymoon, son," Rick said, then guffawed when Dee's head snapped up.

"Rick, please…"

Rick ruffled Dee's hair. "We're all adults, boy. Now, on the count of three…."

Stork cued everyone to countdown together.

Thirty seconds later, most of the contents were either nestled between Dee's knees, on his lap or in his hands.

"Time's up!" Stork announced.

Barry bent over with a bag and collected Dee's efforts, and Rick helped Dee to his feet. Keeping him still blindfolded, Rick guided Dee to the back couch again and sat him down.

"Here Dee. You look like you got yourself a good workout," Vince stated, handing him a bottle of cold water.

"Thanks."

"Now," Stork stated. "Obviously we didn't stick to the rules here. But wasn't it more fun to watch Dee give it a go?"

Applause, laughter and whistles was the reply.

"So what next, you ask? We still have many many interesting little treats on the floor. Oh, I see they are picking them up. What are you going to do with them, gentlemen?" Stork asked.

"You'll see," Barry replied with a chuckle. He had everything in another bag and sat down next to Dee. He held the bag out. "Now stick your hand in there, grab a few things and just throw. And continue throwing until you tossed all the extras out to your guests."

Dee chuckled. "With pleasure. Naughty treats for everyone!" Dee started to toss, sometimes directing a particular item he felt in his hand where he remembered someone's voice came from. He ended up hitting Rose right in the face with several pillow packs of lube. When the last treat was thrown out, Dee was finally allowed to take off the blindfold.

Everyone settled for talking as they went onto the next stop.

In Harlem, after getting more food and beverages, they did karaoke as the bus rode onto Coney Island in Brooklyn.

The bus stopped in a no parking zone next to the Cyclone in Astroland.

Stork walked through the bus to stand before Dee. "You having a good time, Dee?" he asked.

Dee nodded, grinning. "Yeah. Lots."

"Good. You've been a good sport about having a six foot stork as a MC to your bachelor party."

"Well, I had no choice. But yeah, you're pretty funny."

"Do you find me sexy?" Stork purred.

"NO!" Everyone yelled out on cue. "ONLY RYO IS SEXY!!"

"Yeah," Dee laughed. "That's right. But you're all right. For a stork, I guess." Dee laughed harder.

"Well we're well into the second half of this party. We don't want to tire you out too much, but all your friends wanted you to have fun tonight."

"I did," Dee said sincerely. "I really did. This was great. Everything. Even you, Stork."

"So you do think I'm sexy?"

Dee laughed, covering his face. "Oh God."

"C'mon, I'm not that bad. I might even be the last near nude male body you're going to see as an unmarried man."

"Nah. For one thing, that would be Ryo." He snorted as everyone groaned. "For another…." He gestured, his eyes glittering impishly with a grin to match. "You're not a man. You're a… stork." Dee started to laugh again.

"I meant the last male that is not your intended."

"You're still a stork," Dee chuckled.

"Ah! But if you wear the magical hat, that might change."

"Oh oh," Dee remarked, losing his grin. "What magical hat?"

"One of my assistants, please bring the hat."

"Right here," Rick said, carrying a blue and silver pillow with pink, purple and yellow fringes, with the requested item on it.

Dee's eyes went wide. "Oh God! No! Oh shit!"

Stork removed the hat from the pillow with reverence. "I guess it's too late to properly warn you, considering you're already knocked up. But for next time, you should remember…."

Dee covered his face. "No!" he laughed.

Stork set the giant condom hat on Dee's head. "Remember to wear your rubbers. And yes, I feel the magic now. Do I hear the music?"

Suddenly at club level, the music started. Dee fell back against the leather back of the couch, laughing hysterically, the condom hat still on his head as "It's Raining Men" played.

Stork started to dance to the music, his moves sensual, even in the bulky costume. Dee actually screamed with laughter when the first part of the stork costume came off, and was tossed at him. As the song went on, more of the stork costume came off, revealing a finely muscled body. When the stork head was removed nearing the last chorus of the song, dark hair and crystal blue eyes looking out from a handsome face was revealed. Stork winked at Dee and attempted to give him a lap dance.

Everyone who was standing to watch, and clapping to the music laughed when they saw Dee blush like he hadn't yet that night. Flashes from cameras went off, capturing the sight for prosperity.

"Ryo HAS to see this!" JJ exclaimed, laughing hysterically, while all the others agreed.

"Oh shit!" Dee cried out, still laughing.

Stork finished the song, not quite sitting in Dee's lap, but came close, wearing just a blue and pink glittery g-string. He bent over and kissed Dee on his cheek. "Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, Dee."

"Thanks. I think." Dee covered his face with his hand and laughed more.

As the music stopped, the almost naked handsome man stood before Dee. "See? I told you that hat was magic. You may keep it. Meanwhile, I really didn't have a chance to actually do a lap dance in your lap. Seems you have a built in defense there." He patted the swell of Dee's tummy. "I hope you don't mind if I finish this party like this?"

"I don't!" Diana yelled out, and the women there screamed with appreciation. The gay males joined in.

"I guess since my guests seem to want it, go right ahead," Dee said.

"Great. Okay. We're going to do another Mad Lib on the way to our next stop," Stork stated. "So Barry, Rick, please. Hand out the necessary items."

The game was a quick one, and everyone was talking as the bus pulled into the parking lot at Rockaway Beach.

"This is our next to last stop," Stork the human called out. "And the moment, I heard some of you were waiting for."

Dee looked at him in question, then gazed around at his guests.

"Apparently some of your friends were also at your intended's party last night. There was one act that was quite the hit of the evening, from what I was informed. So much so, that your husband-to-be personally requested that the act be repeated for you tonight. Luckily Rick here had already made plans with Barry for our next guest to do a double night bill."

"Oh." Dee thought back to what Ryo had told him of the party the night before, and from he heard Rick and Ryo talk about during the day. There were strippers and drag queens. But no mention of something of the type Stork described.

Rick chuckled. "We kept a little part of Ryo's party out when sharing details because we didn't want to spoil the surprise."

Barry nodded.

"You're a lucky man, Dee Laytner," Stork continued. "Not only do you have three of your college buddies, who flew in from Japan to be here tonight, but our special guest also flew in from Japan. But from what I hear, she's not Japanese."

Dee looked intrigued.

"Can we cue up a little Jpop please?"

"Cued!" Barry replied.

"Good. For the grand finale of the fine entertainment provided for your enjoyment, please welcome, originally from Thailand, Martha!"

Dee's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. Barry noticed it, and nudged Rick. The two men thought Dee's eyes could not go wider or his mouth open more, but they did when Martha sauntered into the bus to the music.

Martha looked to the back of the bus at the guest of honor and their eyes met. She laughed and smiled at Dee. Dee winked at her.

JJ got up and excused himself to go into the bathroom. Drake laughed, shaking his head. He settled himself so he could watch the performance once more. Those who were at the party the night before, sat on the edge of their seats as she started to dance.

Dee's college friends were cheering and laughing, and the four seemed to be sharing a private joke that Martha was let in on.

Barry and Rick did not spend too much time watching the four friends, riveting their attention to the Thai showgirl.

The first ping pong ball got Dee in the nose. He was laughing so hard, he had tears in his eyes, obviously enjoying the performance.

The second got Hide, who yelled out, "YES!" and stood up, holding up the ping pong ball like a fan who caught a foul ball at a baseball game. Rick got the third. Janice shrieked when one hit her and Diana caught the one in her direction before it hit her. She popped Rose in the face and they both laughed.

At the end of the song, most of the men were going for more cold drinks. Marty handed Dee a napkin to wipe his eyes, then Rick handed him another that was dunked in the ice water to wipe down his face, heated from laughing.

Martha came up to the four friends. "I did not expect to see you again." Her eyes settled on Dee.

Dee smiled. "I can say the same." He looked at Rick and Barry. "You had her at Ryo's party?" he asked.

Rick nodded. "Yes. Ryo hired her for Eddie's bachelor party in Japan. How do you know her?"

Dee laughed and winked at Martha. "I went out with her for a few months when I was in Japan." He laughed harder when it was finally Rick and Barry's turn for their mouths to drop open.

Martha laughed too. "I first met Dee in Thailand. These four went into the bar I worked in."

"We went backpacking through Asia one summer," Hide explained. "We spent 5 days in Thailand."

Dee smiled. "Yeah. We met Martha on the first night. She came up to me later in the evening and well… she turned out to be our tour guide. I also took her out to dinner a couple of times."

Everyone in the bus was interested in hearing the story the five revealed.

"When I told Martha that I was currently living in Japan, she told me that her family was moving there in a few months. Her father had gotten a job in Tokyo. So I gave her my phone number and address. When she arrived in Tokyo with her family, she called me. We dated for a few months. By then we realized we were better friends than lovers. That's how we broke it off. We still got together now and then until I graduated and went back to New York," Dee explained.

Rick chuckled. "Oh God. Wait until Ryo hears this!"

"He really asked for her to perform here tonight?"

Rick nodded. "And he's going to be jealous as hell that you actually dated her. But not too much. He has you now. I know he's as bad as you are about that. Only Dee for Ryo these days." Rick winked at Dee.

"Well in that case, I think Ryo and I need to have a talk. How long are you in town, sweetheart?" Dee asked the petite exotic dancer.

"For a week. I told Eddie that if I was going to fly all the way to New York City, that I wanted time to sightsee."

"Then I think I need to check with Ryo if he wants you to come to our wedding next Saturday. If you want."

She smiled. "I want. I can't believe you're getting married to that sexy man from last night. You're still sexy yourself, you know."

"I keep hoping," Dee laughed. "Sometimes I wonder." He rubbed his tummy.

"Oh, but that little one is going to be gorgeous if Ryo is the other father."

"He is the other father. And I think so too about this little one."

Martha laughed. "You know, back then, I'd have never taken you for the type that would allow himself to Carry. Hell, I never thought you knew the correct position to be in."

"Now now… TMI for all my lovely guests," Dee remarked ruefully. "But yeah. That's true." He looked out at his guests. "And can anyone tell me why it's different this time?"

"BECAUSE IT'S RYO!" Everyone laughed.

Martha smiled sweetly at Dee and leaned over to kiss him lightly. "Good luck with your marriage. I can see you love him very much and that's good. You deserve that happiness. Treat each other well for many many years to come. And congratulations for the baby. Please, send me a picture when it's born."

"I sure will, sweetheart."

Rick cleared his throat. "Martha, I know we planned for you to go back to your hotel, then onto whatever else you wanted to take in while in New York, but would you like to finish this ride off? Since you're also one of Dee's friends and you're already here, you might as well stay."

Martha smiled. "I think I'd like that very much."

As the bus pulled into the last stop of the party, it was Rick who stood up and announced the stop.

"For our last stop, there's no strippers, no dirty games. This stop is a memory stop for Dee. Dee, if I asked you what's your very favorite place in all of New York City, what would you say?"

Dee smiled lovingly. "That's easy. By the River Café in Brooklyn. Because that was where Ryo first told me he loved me. That was the first day of our journey that leads us to next Saturday."

Rick smiled. "Well, this last stop is for you, Dee. We're actually going to get off this bus for a while because we have the River Café rented out while we have a real meal. A light one, at that, but real food instead of finger foods. So everyone, offload and let's finish our party in a really nice restaurant."

Dee looked up at Rick. "Thank you, Rick."

Rick smiled back at Dee. "You're welcome, nephew. Now come. And yes, you can finally take the silly hat off. And Mr. Stork, please put some clothes on if you plan to join us."

It really was the last stop of the night for most of the guests. Earlier, everyone had met there and parked their cars. The bus was waiting for them to board, before going on to get Dee.

The bachelor party ended, everyone was saying good night to Dee as they left the restaurant. Those remaining left the restaurant for the parking lot. Dee hugged the childhood friend that he considered a brother enthusiastically, thanking him for the wonderful party when Barry was leaving. As the big black man walked across the parking lot, the only ones left with Dee were Rick, Yuki, Ken and Hide. Martha's ride had followed the bus and took her back to the hotel when she left the restaurant.

The bus still was in the space it parked in the parking lot.

Dee looked at Rick. "I know I'm supposed to be in a crowd, but do you think it's okay if I just go over to that lamp post and…." His voice faded as he saw a familiar figure under the indicated lamp post.

Rick smiled. "I don't think Ryo will mind it. Go ahead."

Dee went over to the figure, who was leaning casually against the railing. Ryo smiled as Dee approached.

"Have a good night?"

Dee nodded. "Awesome."

"Good. Elena suggested I be here around this time." Ryo took a step toward Dee until his body almost touched Dee's. "Do you mind if I kiss you?"

"Nah," Dee said with a loving smile. "Not at all."

"I love you, Dee. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Of course. Just you, and only you."

Ryo put his arms around Dee and their bodies met as they kissed under the lamp light.

When the parted, they heard clapping. Rick and Dee's college friends were joined by Elena. The men were holding the goodie bags from the party, while Yuki held onto the condom hat.

The couple walked over to join the others. Dee took the hat from Yuki as Ryo laughed. Everyone turned to watch as the bus pulled away to reveal a stretch limousine.

"Your ride home awaits you, soon to be newlyweds," Elena said with a smile. "Rick and I will drop off your friends, Dee, then we'll be heading home ourselves." Elena leaned up to kiss Ryo, then Dee. "I'll see you two tomorrow night at the attendant's party."

Ryo hugged his aunt. "Thank you."

Dee put his arm around Ryo. "Thank you both. And as much fun as I had tonight, and will remember this party for a very long time, this is the best part of the party." He smiled at the man he was going to marry the next weekend.

"Here's your booty, Dee. Enjoy," Rick said with a wink as the men unloaded the bags onto Dee and Ryo.

The couple laughed. Saying goodnight again, they walked over to the waiting stretch and got in for the ride home.

* * *

A/N: Yes, an update sooner than expected, but I couldn't let the parties have too much time between them. As I continue to finish an advanced chapter, I will be editing a chapter to send off for beta. The next update could be in 2 – 3 weeks, maybe sooner. We're only a couple of chapters away from the wedding. I'm trying not to make you wait all summer for it.

I started this epic with the manga as the basis, drawing whatever I could from canon. Since then, we have started to draw from Second Season – sometimes in unique ways, and others referencing something from the new acts. I'm so glad to see new FAKE coming out. If someone hasn't seen it yet, and would like to, drop me an email and I'll point you toward the scanlations. Matter of fact, if you just feel like emailing me, please do. I'd love to get to know all you wonderful people who have been following this fic and pretty much have been kicking my muses into gear. I love you all.

Once again, thanks for the kind words and lovely reviews.

And again, if I answered with everything I want to say to each of you who reviewed, it would be the size of half a chapter. IrishLeFay said it, and I've known from the very start… and I appreciate not only letting me know you like this fic, but sharing your thoughts on it.

Irish, you left a mightly long one yourself (heh… I said 'long one'). And I do intend to reply back to your last message – once I find some time (hopefully by the weekend). We should switch to email or IM. Thank you for taking the time for your nice, long review.

Trunks lil' sis – I always smile when I read your very insightful thoughts. I'm so glad I can bring out that much feelings for the characters. Thank you! I'm hoping to drop you a line sometime soon too.

IrishKaoru – said it all in our IMs. Love you, girl!

XZanayu, Jay, Favrite of Chaos, chibigirlflower – thanks for reading and leaving a review.

I hope everyone enjoyed Dee's bachelor party. Now I think we're getting ready for a wedding – or very very close to one.


	18. Wedding Week

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 18 – Wedding Week  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.  
A/N: Great big HUGS and thanks to Gracie Musica for helping with the first scene of this chapter. You know I just 3 your Ryo muse, girl!

Beta by Dawn -- hugs to you. Not once, but twice she had to do the beta, because I sent her the wrong version of the chapter. DUH!

* * *

**March 5, 2006**

Ryo was taking out the pans to start breakfast when Dee walked into the kitchen, yawning. Dee went to stand next to Ryo, smiling at him.

"Good morning there, sexy," Ryo greeted with a grin, the night before after they got home still on his mind. Dee was in a frisky mood from the party, and Ryo was willing to oblige Dee. He lightly kissed Dee, then leaned over to kiss the baby swell. "Good morning, Chibi."

Dee smiled wider. "Morning gorgeous." He pulled Ryo up to give him a proper morning kiss. As they broke apart, Dee yawned again. "Damn, this is one of those mornings I wish I could do coffee."

"Aw, poor baby," Ryo remarked as he went over to the counter to pour Dee some tea he had waiting. He handed the cup to Dee and gently pushed his fiancé over toward one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

Dee sat down, sipping his tea, while glancing up at Ryo. Ryo sat down next to Dee.

"Did you enjoy your party last night?" Ryo asked.

"Oh very much," Dee replied with a chuckle. "Even the stork turned out to be something else."

Ryo giggled. "So did you like the stripper?" he asked slyly.

Dee had a thoughtful look on his face. "Umm… which stripper would that be?" He laughed. "There were several."

"Martha. The Thai girl," Ryo replied. "She's a total sweetheart, isn't she?"

Dee laughed as he set his tea down on the counter. "Rumor has it that you requested she perform for my party after she did her thing for yours." He grinned at Ryo. "She's some dancer, huh? Great shot, too." He laughed.

"Yes, she is something else. I had hired her for Eddie's bachelor party in Japan. So he returned the favor and had her flown here for mine." Ryo chuckled, still amazed at some of the distances some of their guests had traveled just for the occasion.

"Oh… she's something else, alright," Dee remarked and laughed.

There was something about Dee's tone, and his amusement that caught Ryo's curiosity. There was more to his soon-to-be husband's comment, and Ryo wanted to know what it was.

Ryo cocked his head to the side, looking at Dee in his usual manner when he was confused. "What?" he asked. Dee normally associated the gesture to the Japanese he had met through his life. Oddly Ryo got that particular mannerism from his father's side, Dee had learned after meeting Franklin MacLean. He later found out from Elena that Ryo's dad would do the same thing.

Dee's grin was wickedly charming as he crooked his finger. "C'mere. Got a story to tell you."

"Oh? Do tell." Ryo moved the stool so when he sat, his leg brushed along Dee's.

Dee turned so he was facing Ryo. He took one of Ryo's hands in his and squeezed it lovingly. "Turns out I know, well knew, Martha. Very well once."

Ryo cocked an eyebrow, his expression telling Dee to continue.

Dee chuckled as he leaned forward to kiss Ryo's cheek. "Sweetheart, you requested an ex-girlfriend of mine to do her specialty dance for my bachelor party." Dee laughed warmly, smiling at Ryo.

Ryo stared back at Dee in shock. He blinked his eyes once, twice, then stared some more.

"I was in college," Dee further supplied.

Ryo finally found his voice. "Serious?" he asked.

"Very," Dee replied. "Actually we first met in Thailand."

Ryo was grinning, thinking of the odds, which made him think of how close him and Dee might have been without realizing it back then. "So Thailand first?" he asked.

"Yeah. Me and the nutcases who are here this week had gone backpacking across Asia during a school break. We met her in the bar she was working in during our first night in Bangkok."

Ryo seemed to come out of his shock as he continued to smile at Dee. He squeezed the hand holding his to further encourage the other man to tell more.

"She became our escort for the next four days that we were in Thailand. And kept my bed warm."

"Damn. I'm jealous," Ryo remarked.

"It gets better."

"So keep talking."

"When she found out we were from the Tokyo area, she told us her family was moving there in a few months. Her father got a promotion to head the Tokyo branch of his company. So we exchanged phone numbers. When she arrived in Japan, she called me. We started to date right then, picking up on where we left off when I was in Thailand. But a few months later, we broke up. We stayed friends, but we lost touch when I graduated and moved back to New York. Then suddenly last night…" Dee shook his head in amazement. "Holy shit!"

"Well, that settles it then," Ryo said. "She has to stay for the wedding."

Dee laughed. "If she wants, and if you don't mind, sure. Why not?"

"Why would I mind? She's a friend of both of ours."

"We talked some last night after her dance. She's really happy that it's the two of us together now. In fact, she said I had great taste in husbands." Dee smiled at Ryo.

"Well, you do," Ryo stated with a wink.

"I agree. I know I do." Dee smiled more as Ryo leaned closer to kiss him.

"So Martha comes to the wedding," Ryo decided. "Besides, I sort of like the idea of planting one on you while your ex is sitting in the audience."

"I got to tell you, when I first saw her enter the bus," Dee said. "Wow, that was a surprise. Probably better than you were hoping."

Ryo laughed. "I'm glad."

Dee started to laugh. "And JJ… he got up and fled in the bathroom when he saw her, and didn't come out until the music was finished." He laughed harder at the memory from the night before.

Ryo laughed with Dee. "Well, she did get him square in the forehead at my party."

"I heard something about her being a good shot and shooting both snipers." Dee laughed again.

"Yeah. She got my nose." Ryo tried to pout at Dee.

"Aww." He kissed Ryo's nose. "I'll bet that was one shot you didn't mind, huh?" He chuckled.

Ryo grinned. "It was rather entertaining. Her aim's gotten better, if I recall correctly."

"Yes it has!" Dee agreed, laughing. "But she was just starting out back then. When she got to Japan, she first started out doing college parties. Then went on to become her own USO for the troops."

Ryo giggled.

"She decided she wanted to date Americans." Dee shook his head. "Kinda confused me at first, because that was one of the reasons we broke up. But like I said, we stayed friends. Later she explained that while I was there, I embraced the Japanese culture too much, and wasn't American enough for her."

Ryo laughed. "Well, I keep saying you look more Asian than I do." He shrugged. "Who knows what's in your background." He grinned mischievously. "Somehow I get this feeling that we might find out more about your mysterious heritage when the baby is born. There might be a trait or two that you don't see in us, but belonged to one of your parents."

Dee nodded. "This baby is making me think of lots of things I never did before. Vince suggested taking a DNA test, only because certain heritages can bring about medical issues that might be a good idea to know about in advance. But I'm not ready to start digging yet. That means possibly finding out more about _them._ You know as far as I'm concerned, Jess is my dad, and Penguin is my mom. That's why I never bothered to find out anything about my biological parents, even if I have the resources now that they didn't have back when they did the initial investigation after Jess found me."

"I know. Look, Vince suggested it, but did not stress that it's necessary. So, don't do anything you're not comfortable with. We'll deal with what we know. Okay?"

Dee smiled at Ryo. "Okay. Thanks." He ran his fingers through Ryo's hair. "Going back to the topic of exes," he started.

Ryo tilted his head a little, looking up at Dee. "Hm?"

"Yuki and I used to be fuck buddies too."

Ryo chuckled. "I figured. In fact, Rick owes me money now." He winked at Dee. "He was a bit too excited to see you again," he explained, then kissed Dee's cheek.

"It was nothing serious. All for fun," Dee explained. "He wasn't a great love of my life, but he was one of my best friends during college. He's in a pretty serious relationship himself now, even if they aren't thinking marriage yet."

"It's all right," Ryo assured Dee.

"I think we're going to have some interesting guests at our wedding, wouldn't you say?" Dee commented.

"Yeah. Too bad we couldn't track down some of my old lovers." Ryo grinned teasingly at Dee.

"Oh? You still have a week, you know." He winked at Ryo. "Anyone in particular?"

"I just want one lover there," Ryo replied. "And he's sitting right her." He kissed Dee again.

"Aw baby," Dee sighed, smiling at Ryo when they broke the kiss. "I love you too."

Ryo kissed Dee's nose. With a grin, he said, "Besides, I'm teasing you. One of my exes from when I was stationed at Zama is here."

"Then invite her too then," Dee stated. "We do have extra seating for last minute things like this."

Ryo nodded. "I was going to check with you on that, too. Okay, I'll call her and tell her that you're fine with it." He smiled at Dee. "I'm glad that we're both secure enough to get past silly stuff over exes."

Dee shrugged. "Who we once cared for or loved makes us who we are now. You're marrying me, not her. That's what matters. Besides, Pedro is in the wedding party."

"Pedro is also one of our best friends," Ryo added. "But I understand what you mean."

With a wicked grin, Dee said, "I think the best part of having a couple of exes around is, the look of surprise when they found out I was pregnant."

"You're such a top. That's why," Ryo remarked. With a soft smile, he started to rub Dee's tummy.

"I'm glad I finally got to find out what I was missing." He lightly kissed Ryo. "But then, I just needed the right man to make it pleasant."

"It sure was fun making Chibi, wasn't it?" Ryo asked. He leaned over to kiss Dee's stomach.

"Yeah, it was fun," Dee agreed. "You and your sniper sperm."

Ryo grinned at Dee. "Hey, the only complaint you had was when I stopped."

Dee laughed at Ryo's comment, nodding his head. "That's what you do to me. Oh man, you should have seen the look on my partner from back in my uniform days."

Ryo laughed with Dee. "Big bad cop knocked up," he remarked. "I think you're the rare exception in the NYPD. Not a lot of Carriers choose to get pregnant on the job." When he saw the face Dee made and the other man starting to open his mouth with a smart comment, he added, "Well, not 'on' the job."

"I was going to say we need to try that next time." He winked at Ryo, laughing. Imitating Ryo, he added, "If anyone is looking for me, I'm going down to the firing range to knock Dee up again."

Both Dee and Ryo laughed.

When they were laughed out, Dee leaned over to kiss Ryo again. "You know what? I think Chibi's getting hungry."

"I think we can so something about that," Ryo replied, kissing Dee back. "Pancakes, eggs and bacon?"

"You know Chibi's tastes very well, Papa." Dee grinned at Ryo.

"No, they're your tastes, silly."

"She takes after her Daddy?" Dee asked with a goofy look on his face.

"Yeah, he does," Ryo remarked, standing up. He kissed Dee's forehead and went back to the stove.

Dee got up to follow Ryo. "I can help, you know."

"Nah. You sit and have some more tea, love. So which one this morning?"

"Um… all of it?" Dee replied.

"I can do that." Ryo went over to the fridge to start taking out what he would need."

Dee leaned back, watching Ryo. "If you insist. I'll just sit back, drink my tea and watch your gorgeous ass as you cook," he said with a leer.

"Hey, I aim to please," Ryo stated, leaning forward into the fridge and wiggling his ass enticingly for Dee.

"Careful there!" Dee warned. "You don't wanna make me drop my tea."

Ryo laughed as he moved away from the fridge, closing the door with a swing of his hips. He set the items down on the counter and went to take an apron off a hook and put it on.

"Now it gets interesting." Dee went over to the teapot, while rubbing his bump.

Ryo grabbed the mug from Dee's hand and poured it for him.

"I could have done that," Dee said as he accepted the mug from Ryo. "You have all that to worry about." He pointed to the food and pans. He kissed the side of Ryo's head.

Ryo pushed Dee gently away. "Go sit down. Read the paper, or we'll never get breakfast done."

As Dee sat down again, he yawned. "I tell you, in a way I can't wait until next Sunday evening."

"What happens next Sunday again?" Ryo asked, trying not to smile.

"We'll be done with all the parties, including the BIG one, and in our hotel room in Atlanta for the night."

Ryo giggled. He realized he forgot to grab the butter and went back to the fridge.

As he passed, Dee leaned forward to pinch his ass. "We get to spend the night in the honeymoon suite of the Peachtree Plaza, and not see much of Atlanta." Dee grinned up at Ryo.

"Now that sounds like a plan," Ryo agreed, taking out the butter, shooting Dee an amused look and going back to the stove. "Of course, we'll have to go easy for Chibi, you know."

Dee pouted, making Ryo laugh. "I can't wait," Ryo said, smiling at Dee.

"Me too. And then the Royal Sands resort in Nassau. Wow! That looks really nice. I can't wait to spend a week there – you, me, the sun, water and… chibi." He chuckled.

"Oh?" Ryo mused. He went over to Dee, rubbing Dee's stomach. "Sorry Chibi, but he's mine for a little bit longer."

Dee laughed. "Oh hey. I still have that bag of fun from last night." He grinned up at Ryo. "Think we can put some of it into our suitcases?"

"Depends. We need room for some of my goodies too." Ryo leered at Dee, licking his lips. "Assuming we don't use 'em all up by then."

"Oh man, if we do use it all up by then, I might be too tired to make it to the wedding," Dee exclaimed. "Besides, I got a Honeymooners Kit as a gift from everyone. To be used on the honeymoon." He laughed.

"Well, there's always that. Okay. So we won't use up everything before the honeymoon, but we could have fun trying our best," Ryo remarked with a wink.

"I love how you think!" Dee agreed.

"Speaking of honeymoon, tomorrow night we really should start getting packed and ready," Ryo said. "Because the rest of the week, we have too much to do. And before you know it, we'll be eating breakfast with our family and friends and the car will pull up… and we best be packed when we leave for the airport."

Dee groaned. "You had to remind me. Agreed. And at least this week will go by fast." He bounced a little. "We're going to be married before we know it!"

Ryo went back over to Dee and hugged him. 'Yes. Yes we are. Then we'll just have Chibi's birth to look forward to."

Dee hugged Ryo back, kissing him. "Yeah, huh?"

* * *

LATER THAT DAY:

"Hi Uncle Rick," Ryo greeted as he let his uncle into the apartment. "What brings you here so early?"

Rick pointed down. "Them. They felt left out of things the last couple of days."

Before Ryo had a chance to look where his uncle was pointing, he heard a sweet voice exclaim, "Cousin Ryo!" Dani stood before him, holding her arms up.

Ryo laughed and picked Dani up. "Well, hello there, angel," he greeted his little cousin. "Did you have a good time at your sleepover this weekend?"

"Yeah," Dani replied with a nod. She hugged Ryo, kissing his cheek. "Mommy's getting prettied up for the wedding."

"Yes, she is," Ryo said, smiling.

"Mommy doesn't need it," Stefen said, now standing before Ryo and looking up. "She's already pretty."

"Yes," he laughed. "Your mommy is very pretty. But she wants to look prettier."

"Hi Cousin Dee!" Dani greeted with a wave. She was still in Ryo's arms and looking over his shoulder as Dee approached the group. She wiggled, making it known she wanted Dee to hold her.

"Why don't you let Dee sit down, then he can hold you, baby girl," Rick said to her.

Dani pouted.

Ryo chuckled and kissed her cheek.

Stefen waved to Dee. "Look Dani!" he exclaimed. "You really can see the baby now! Like Cassie's mommy."

Dee looked down at the young boy and laughed. "Hey Stefen," he said, ruffling the child's hair. He leaned over to kiss Dani on the nose. "Hi sweetheart. You want to sit on the couch with me a bit?"

"Window, please."

"Alrighty. Window seat then."

Ryo shook his head, grinning. "Let's go. Then you can take your coats off."

"Okay," Stefen said, walking next to Dee. "Is Bikky here?"

"You'll see Bikky at the restaurant," Ryo said, carrying Dani to the window seat. "He's at Carol's right now."

"Are we going to see Carol too?" Dani asked as Ryo put her on the window seat next to Dee.

"Yes, we are," Ryo said.

"Yay! I like Carol!" Dani exclaimed.

"Good!" Dee said, chuckling. "We like her too." He winked at Ryo, who laughed.

Stefen already had his coat off, and Rick was taking it from him, along with his hat. Ryo helped Dani with her coat.

"I'll get that," Rick said, taking Dani's coat and hat from Ryo.

Dani crawled onto Dee's lap and hugged him. "Hi Dee!"

"Hello cupcake," he said as he hugged her back.

"Can I say hello to the baby?" she asked.

"Sure thing. You can say hello to your cousin." Dee looked up and winked at Ryo, who watched with amusement.

Rick returned from hanging up the coats and laughed as he saw both of his children petting Dee's tummy.

"What's your shirt say?" Dani asked.

"It says baby on board," Stefen read, replying for Dee.

Dani clapped. "YAY! Baby!"

The adults laughed at the little girl's excitement as Dee hugged Dani.

"Does anyone want juice?" Ryo asked Stefen and Dani.

"Me!" Stefen said, raising his hand.

"Me too!" Dani turned to look up at Ryo.

"What they said," Dee also answered.

"Alrighty then," Ryo said. "Rick, can I get you anything?"

"I'll go help you, and see what you have to offer," Rick replied with a wink.

"Knock yourself out," Ryo remarked. He headed for the kitchen with his uncle following.

Inside the kitchen, Ryo took out glasses for the adults, a plastic cup for Stefen and the sippy cup they kept for Dani.

Rick took apple juice from the fridge and put it on the counter. "Ryo, I want to talk to you about something," he started. "It's not bad," he quickly added when Ryo looked up sharply to look at his uncle in concern.

"Then what?"

"Look son, I'm touched and honored that you asked me to be your best man. And if that's what you really want, you know I'd do it for you. However, I won't be offended if you want to ask Eddie. At the time you chose me, you had no idea how to contact him."

"Rick," Ryo sighed.

"Hey, don't worry. He was your best buddy in the Army, and you were his best man. Shit happens sometimes, and you just lose touch with people. But he's here in New York with his family. He's going to be at the wedding. Why not ask him to be your best man?"

Ryo studied his uncle. "Are you sure you won't take offense?" he asked.

"Hell no, Ryo."

"But he'll need a tux," Ryo started to think aloud.

"He's about Drake's size, and I know there's an extra tux for each of your guys in case of need. So I'll make sure he gets to Marcel tomorrow for a fitting. Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I'll still wear mine at the wedding. Then I know I'll look sharp escorting your beautiful aunt after she gives you away."

Ryo smiled brightly at his uncle. "Rick, you're the greatest. Thanks!"

"Well, I try. Look, why don't I bring out the drinks while you call Eddie and tell him he has an attendants' party to be at tonight."

"Oh God, now I'm going to have to get something for Eddie before then!"

Rick patted Ryo on his back. "Relax. Come sit with everyone a bit, then you run out while I hang out here with Dee. That's why I made sure we got here early. And surely with all those shops around here, you'll be able to pick out something within a few blocks."

"Yeah. You're right. Sounds like a plan. Thank you again, Uncle Rick."

"Not a problem. Now let's go see what my two heathens got Dee into," Rick remarked with a chuckle.

"Who knows," Ryo replied, rolling his eyes. He grinned at his uncle. "He's as much a sucker for those two as he is for the kids at the orphanage." He winked at his uncle. "And to think he once tried to make me believe that he hated kids."

"Considering current situation, let's be thankful that was all an act," Rick said, helping Ryo with the drinks.

Ryo laughed. "Tell me about it!"

* * *

The attendants' party was held in a restaurant in the South Street Seaport area, a few blocks from Bridgewaters and where the ceremony would take place in less than a week.

Dee had already started counting the days, hours and minutes until the time he was scheduled to walk into the atrium with Mother.

The rest of Sunday went by fast for both Dee and Ryo. Ryo had explained to Dee the almost last minute change of Ryo's best man. Not long after that, Ryo went out to buy Eddie a gift for the party, while Dee and Rick kept Stefen and Dani amused. Dee had also called the restaurant about adding an additional place setting. Ryo returned with enough time to wrap the gift before he had to start to get ready for the party.

The women of the wedding party arrived after the men. They pulled up to the seafood restaurant in a stretch limo. If the excited chatter and laughter of the women as they entered the upstairs party room were any indication, they had a great day at the spa. Madam Chantrel had also joined them at the resort for the final fittings of their gowns.

Only the members of the wedding party were invited that evening. If a spouse or S.O. was not in the wedding party, they were not invited. One of Ryo's cousins was not at the party as she was to arrive during the week with the rest of Ryo's family from Japan.

Mother arrived at the restaurant with the orphans who were to lead off the processional. The children were very excited about being fitted for the new clothes they were to wear and all the pampering they received in the past week in preparation for the wedding. The girls talked about feeling like princesses in the outfits that were selected for them, making Dee and Ryo smile. Mother told them that the wedding seemed to be the main topic among the children in the last few weeks.

As their guests arrived, they found among the place settings brightly wrapped gifts with matching envelopes. The wrapping paper, envelopes and seating cards were coordinated, using the wedding colors. Along with the colorful design, the pattern included a large "L-M" in fancy scroll letter, followed by "Dee & Ryo" in smaller letters and the wedding date printed under their names. The cards inside the colorful envelopes matched the wrapping paper and had handwritten, personal notes from both Ryo and Dee, thanking those who would be part of their wedding.

Dinner was sit down affair, giving their guests several dishes to choose from, and included a dessert bar. The dessert bar offered cakes, pies, puddings, Jell-O, cookies and some other treats in wedding colors, including personalized M&Ms with Dee and Ryo's names and the wedding date on them, truffles and petit fours coated in pastel frosting, and colored rock candy in glass containers that served as decoration as well as treats for the sweet tooth.

Everyone ate, talked and even did some karaoke by the end of the party. As their guests started to leave, they discovered Ryo and Dee had an additional gift waiting by the door for each guest. Everyone received a tote bag filled with goodies. The men's were basic black, but had a tag with Dee and Ryo's name and the wedding date. Inside were toiletries, including a bottle of that attendant's favorite cologne or aftershave. The women's and children's were in the same pattern as the wrapping paper except the name and date printed once. Inside the women's were facial and manicure products, and a bottle of a favorite perfume. The children's bags included small toys.

Dee and Ryo left last, satisfied that those who were part of their big day had enjoyed themselves that night and loved the gifts that they received.

* * *

**March 6, 2006**

Dee had the day off, while Ryo had to go into work. Barry had offered to come by in the morning and pick Dee up, since he did not have to work until later that afternoon. Not long after Barry arrived at the apartment, they were joined by Yuki, Hide and Ken. They all went to have breakfast in a nearby café. After breakfast, they went with Dee so he could get his hair trimmed.

At first, Dee had thought of slicking his hair back with gel as he did when he would dress up for court. Ryo talked him into wearing his hair the normal way for the wedding. Dee decided he needed a trim so it would fall the right way on that big day.

By the time they left Dee's hairstylist, he got a call from Ryo.

"Hey babe," Dee greeted.

"You sound like you're having fun this morning," Ryo remarked.

"Yeah. I am. I'm in good company. In fact, it's easier to forget they're supposed to double as my bodyguards."

"Well, no matter what the ultimate motive is, it is a day out with friends," Ryo said. "And getting some things done for the wedding."

"Definitely," Dee agreed as the group walked down the street.

"Speaking of things for the wedding, I'm at 1PP right now and I should be done in a half hour or so. Want to meet me at the City Clerk's office for lunch?" Ryo asked.

Dee smiled brightly. "I'd love to," he replied.

"Good! I'll give you a call when I'm on my way. Or if I get tied up here longer. But don't worry, Dee. As soon as I'm done here, we are getting our marriage license."

"I'm not worried. I might start getting antsy if you get delayed. But not worried."

Ryo chuckled. "It doesn't matter what time we apply for it today, we're still waiting until Saturday to get married."

"Five more days," Dee stated excited. "But I'll spare you the exact numbers."

"Don't worry, love. I already know them. Hey, I'm getting called. Looks like they got my info. Better go and get this done with."

"No problem, Ryo. The sooner, the better for us. So go."

"I know you're with a group, but stay safe, Dee."

"I will. I feel sorry for the fucker if he tries to grab me before my wedding."

"I'll tell you what's scary," Ryo said. "I believe you. See you soon, gorgeous."

"Love you, Ryo."

"I love you, too, Dee."

Dee was smiling as he disconnected the call.

"I suppose we should start making our way toward City Hall?" Barry asked.

"You suppose almost right. We'll need to pass 1PP, so might as well go there and wait for Ryo to get out."

His four friends shook their heads, laughing.

Ryo called as they were approaching 1PP, Dee and Barry pointing out landmarks to the three visitors. 1PP was situated next to the Manhattan bound exit ramp of the Brooklyn Bridge. As Ryo left the building, he found Dee and his friends waiting. Together, the group walked the two blocks to 1 Centre Street, where the office of the City Clerk was. When they were at 1PP, they were able to see the back of the building at 1 Centre Street, since it was across the street from Park Row. Barry offered to take Dee's college friends for a walk around City Hall which was across Centre Street, while Dee and Ryo went to file for their marriage license.

Ryo was about to start teasing Dee about glistening eyes when he realized his own eyes felt misty. The happy couple embraced upon receiving their marriage license and kissed, before heading out to meet up with the others for lunch at a nearby diner.

At the diner, they were joined by Kevin, Eddie and Akemi. The three had come from Eddie's fitting with Marcel and some sightseeing. Barry had to leave for work after they finished lunch. Ryo also had to head back to work, not wanting to push Chief approving an extended lunch. Ryo felt Dee was in good hands and went back to work without worrying about his husband-to-be. Dee was to play tour guide to his college friends and Ryo's Army buddies for the rest of the day. It was a bonus that Eddie was still an MP with the Army, and Kevin was with the FBI.

Once again, the day went by swiftly for Dee. They all were back at the apartment, joined by Bikky and Carol by the time Ryo got home. After dinner, Dee went to take a nap, while Ryo got to know Dee's friends more and continued to catch up with his friends' lives.

* * *

**March 7, 2006**

Inside the arrivals area of the International terminal at JFK Airport, Ryo waited with Dee and Bikky for his family. The flight had already arrived not long after they got to the terminal. Rick had stopped by the 27th near the end of their shift to drop off his car for them to make a run to the airport. He told them to keep it until Friday, then assured the couple that he and Elena would see them the next evening for dinner with the family from Japan. Before he left, he made sure they understood that transportation had been arranged for everyone arriving that evening from Japan to their hotel, but Ryo's grandmother planned to drive into Manhattan with Ryo, Dee and Bikky.

"Are you nervous?" Dee asked as Ryo anxiously watched for the first of the arriving passengers to clear from customs. He rubbed Ryo's upper back soothingly as they waited.

"No. More anxious. I haven't seen Obāsan since I got out of the Army. A few of my cousins came to New York since, but even that was years ago. Before I met you." He looked down at Bikky, who stood on Ryo's other side. He ruffled the boy's blonde hair. "I've sent them pictures of Bikky and you since I first had pictures to send, but this is the first time Bikky will get to meet his great grandmother." He smiled fondly.

Dee also looked at Bikky for a moment when he realized no sound came from the otherwise loud teen. The two men shared an amused smile. Bikky's mouth was moving as he silently repeated the formal Japanese greeting he hoped he would not mess up when meeting his adopted father's family.

"Are you nervous?" Ryo asked Dee.

"I should be, but I'm not," Dee replied. "I figured after I got Grandfather MacLean's seal of approval, everything else is easy." He smiled at Ryo. "Besides, I have spoken to your family on the phone enough times. Especially in the last few weeks. So I'm really looking forward to finally meeting everyone. Particularly your grandmother."

"Remember she likes when you call her Obāsan too," Ryo stated. His smile grew and he hugged Dee. "I'm so happy, Dee!" he exclaimed. He leaned up to lightly kiss his soon-to-be husband. "My mom's family is flying all the way from Japan to be at our wedding."

"That makes me happy too and…." Dee paused, catching his breath, then giggled. "I think Chibi is happy too and can't wait to meet her great-grandma, and aunts and uncles and cousins."

Ryo's grin grew. He ruffled Bikky's hair again and laughed. Bikky looked up, but could not find it in him to complain about the hair ruffling or to tease his fathers about their public displays of affection. It was a big moment for Ryo, and Bikky wanted to do his part in assuring it was perfect. Instead he simply asked, "Dee, we did remember to put the weights in his shoes?"

Dee laughed, hugging Ryo again. "I better keep a good hold, just in case. You secure him down on your side too," Dee joked with Bikky.

A few minutes later, Ryo recognized one of his cousins walking with her husband. They were talking to someone behind them. His cousin saw Ryo and squealed with delight. "Ryo!" the Japanese woman cried out, running for him. Before Ryo had a chance to move, he found himself being hugged by his excited cousin.

"Emiko, you were just a baby when I saw you last," he said in Japanese, teasing her.

"Oh you! I was not a baby," she pouted.

"Still, you grew up and you have a family now," Ryo said with a grin, continuing to speak to her cousin in Japanese. Emiko was a year younger than Ryo. The two cousins lived in the same house during their first five years, since her parents still lived with Akira Aoki and Ryo's parents also lived in the same house during their time they lived in Japan. The two stayed close over the years, even with distance. The last time Ryo had seen his cousin was when he went to Japan for her wedding a few months before he transferred to the 27th precinct.

"Yes. You have a family too. And you're going to be married soon." Emiko looked over at the taller, dark haired man standing next to her and Ryo, who was smiling warmly at them. "Dei-chan," she greeted, leaving Ryo's arms to finally meet the man who made her cousin happy.

"That's my very soon-to-be husband, Dee," Ryo stated, still in Japanese. In English, he added, "And our son, Bikky."

"Oh!" Emiko shrieked, looking up at Dee. "He's cuter in person," she said in Japanese, hugging Dee. "Oh Ryo, you're so lucky!" She looked over to Bikky, who Ryo moved to stand in front of him. Emiko grinned. "And so is Bikky. You have a beautiful family, Ryo." She started to hug Bikky. "Oh!" She glanced back at Dee, her eyes settling on the swell beneath the dark blue turtleneck sweater Dee wore. "The baby is too!"

Dee laughed as she still hugged Bikky while reaching out to pat Dee's tummy.

Someone cleared their throat behind Emiko.

"Forgive my rudeness!" she exclaimed. Emiko went over to the handsome man with dark hair who was shorter than Ryo, but towered over her. "My husband, Daito."

Ryo and Dee started to greet Daito when all hell broke loose. They found themselves swarmed by Ryo's family, of all ages. It was a madness Ryo enjoyed. He was seeing his family from Japan again, meeting younger ones he had not met before, introducing his own son that his family had heard about for years, and watching while his family take Dee and Bikky into their fold.

Only one person Ryo realized he had yet to greet. As his family finished their greetings, they stood to the side and around their three hosts. Ryo looked over to see his grandmother watching with a smile on her face. She was dressed in traditional kimono in blues tones. Despite her age, she appeared regal to Ryo, presiding over her family. It was not her first trip to New York City, but the last time was to attend her daughter's funeral. Ryo knew why she would not come anymore. Finally she had a reason to find joy in a visit. Ryo could tell by her smile.

Their eyes met, Ryo's filling with tears of joy. She made her way to them. She took one of Ryo's hands and squeezed it, smiling at him. She reached up to caress his face reverently.

"Obāsan," Ryo said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Ryo."

Ryo kissed the hand on his face.

She smiled up at him, removing her hand. "Chotto matte, kudasai," she said and turned to Dee. She stood before the man her grandson intended to marry. Her hands rested on each side of his swell and bent over slightly to kiss his belly.

Ryo felt his eyes sting again with tears. He did not mind. Happy tears were always welcome. He noticed Dee's eyes were misty and his face flushed.

"I've been wanting to do that since I first heard about you, little Chibi," she spoke to Dee's tummy in Japanese, using Dee's nickname for the baby. "Especially after seeing all the new photos of your Daddy and Papa.

Tears leaked from Dee's eyes and he had a knot in his throat, so deeply moved by Ryo's grandmother's acceptance of their situation. Ryo was wiping his own eyes by then. Bikky was gathered to stand with the rest of the family as they all watched.

Obāsan straightened her stance and looked up at Dee. Still in Japanese, she said, "I finally meet the man who breaths life into my darling Rayna's line." She rested her hand on the swell again. "Her blood, our family blood flows in you now, Dei. You are an Aoki." She bowed her head to Dee.

Dee lost all mind of formally greeting an elder. All he was able to summon up was to bow lower than her bow and graciously thank her for her blessings in Japanese. As he came up from the bow, the tiny woman with white hair hugged him, drawing Ryo into the embrace. After a moment, she held out a hand in Bikky's direction as if to summon him. He came over to the three and found himself included in the embrace.

Ryo's family continued to watch, some of the females wiping their eyes as the little family hugged.

When they pulled apart, everyone clapped and cheered, bringing attention from other passengers.

"Our bus is here," Ryo's uncle announced in Japanese. "Okāsan will go with you and we meet at the hotel later?"

"Hai Ojisan," Ryo replied with a bow to his uncle.

Ryo's Uncle Nobu smiled at him and winked at Bikky. He patted Dee on his shoulder. In his native language, he said, "Great to finally meet your family, Ryo. Especially the American Japanese scholar here." He winked at Dee.

Dee laughed as Bikky glanced up. "The wha?" Bikky asked, catching some of the pronunciation.

"I've been called many things though my life," Dee remarked in Japanese, "but that is a first."

"We will see you later," Uncle Nobu said. He hustled the rest of the family, who were saying their temporary good byes while gathering their luggage.

Obāsan's luggage, except for her carry on and another bag, went with the rest of the family. As his relatives went outside to board the bus, Ryo picked up the suitcase, smiling at his grandmother.

"I am so glad you are here, Obāsan," he said in Japanese.

"I am glad too," she said in heavily accented English. "But I suggest we speak in language to include your son." She smiled at Bikky. "However, young man, I give you until 18 to learn Japanese, or you will be missing out on what I say after that." She winked playfully at Bikky. She had a heavy accent, but it was obvious she was very fluent in English.

Dee and Ryo laughed, also smiling at Bikky, who tried hard not to grimace at the idea of more studying and failing.

"He's been trying very hard to learn the basics," Ryo said, "but he only had weeks since finding out you were coming."

"Besides, studying is not one of Bikky's strongest point," Dee added. "But he does his best and we're proud of him for that." He grinned when he noticed how Bikky could not stop himself from smiling at them. "However, the chibi here," he patted his tummy, "will be born speaking English and Japanese."

Obāsan laughed delightedly. "That is my intent. Start them off young," she said with an impish grin.

"Our baby will certainly recognize your voice," Ryo said as they walked out of the terminal and onto the sidewalk. "Obāsan, can I leave you all here while I get the car?" he asked.

Obāsan grinned at Ryo. "I do not think I need to bond with family, Ryo. I also anticipate spending some quality time with just Dee, and Bikky, while I am here."

Dee winked at the elder woman. "Well then, let's get some exercise, shall we. It's actually a nice night tonight," Dee said with a laugh. He held his out for Ryo's grandmother to take, while Ryo handled her suitcase.

"Here's hoping the weather holds up to the weekend," Ryo said. "But wait please." Ryo took out his small digital camera from his coat pocket and took a photo of Dee and his grandmother as Dee escorted her along the sidewalk, with Bikky walking next to her.

"You are Japanese," Dee teased, laughing.

"This is one of those moments that need photos," Ryo stated as he started to lead them toward the parking structure. "I'm sure the family already has more to share with us."

Obāsan and Dee laughed. "I vaguely recall the flashes during that mad rush back there," Dee said, winking at Ryo's grandmother. The elder woman squeezed his arm and laughed more.

The trip to Manhattan from the airport found Ryo driving, his grandmother in the front passenger seat, with Dee and Bikky in the back. The ride was anything but silent.

"I think I should explain my reaction at the airport," Obāsan said as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge.

"It's okay, Obāsan," Ryo assured her. "It's more than okay. It was beautiful."

"You need to hear this, please. I cannot help to be overwhelmed about this baby. I do not mean to slight Bikky, and I intend to show him while I am here. But this baby is very special to me. It will not be my first great grandchild, but finally there is a grandchild to my beautiful Rayna. She was my first born, and the only one of my children not here with us. I prayed that I would live to hear you say you will be a father, Ryo. It does not matter if from a wife, a husband, or you carrying." She looked back and smiled at Dee. "I also know many men who are Carriers choose to not. Even if they be gay. To hear the news that this beautiful man chose to carry your child makes this baby even more precious to me. I know Rayna and Frankie are overjoyed."

"Obāsan," Ryo started, once again overwhelmed with emotion and love for his grandmother.

"I only say the truth. I also see the baby is an addition to your lovely family. I will be staying for a few weeks, so Bikky, I hope that you do not mind spending some time with an old crazy Japanese woman while your dads go to their honeymoon."

Ryo had to laugh, knowing she was making a dig at him. Many times on the phone, he would affectionately call her crazy.

"I'd like that, Obāsan," Bikky replied.

Ryo thought that if he smiled anymore than he was, he might have trouble seeing the road. He had to wipe his eyes a few times whenever she spoke about his mother, and again when she mentioned his parents. He was glad they were not far from home as approached the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

"The wedding and reception sites are not far from here," Ryo said to his grandmother, pointing south toward the South Street Seaport. "Over there. Near where that lighted pier is," he added, indicating Pier 17.

"I cannot wait to see New York City again. I am certain you picked a very lovely place," his grandmother said.

"We were over in Brooklyn, not far from this bridge when I found out that your grandson loved me," Dee explained. "So this bridge is special to me. And our reception site has breathtaking views of the bridge."

Ryo glanced in the rearview mirror at Dee. His fiancé lounged in the leather upholstery, seeming completely at ease with the elder Japanese woman he had met for the first time about an hour before. Ryo saw no sign of worry or anxiety from Dee. Despite the welcome he received into the MacLean clan, Dee still appeared somewhat nervous about the MacLeans, as if he feared he might do something to change their minds about him. It was nothing that anyone who did not know Dee very well would notice, but Ryo did, even when on the phone with Estelle.

Obāsan smiled happily. "I can see how much you love my grandson. I have always heard it in your voice when we spoke on the phone. I am grateful. Ryo deserves to be happy, and you make him so."

Ryo found himself smiling more as he once again glanced in the rearview mirror to catch Dee blushing. "Isn't he just darling, Obāsan?"

Obāsan giggled.

"Oh he's just getting back at me for all the times he would blush when we first got together," Dee said to Obāsan with a wink.

"You blushed first," Bikky laughed. "On that first day, when Ryo invited you over to his place and help settle me in. You blushed like a doofus."

"Shush up, rugrat," Dee remarked.

"Obāsan, did we get to mention yet that Dee and I both have friends from Japan here for the wedding?" Ryo asked, hoping to prevent Dee and Bikky from starting to taunt each other. Even if it was just for fun, Ryo figured they could wait until his grandmother was there a full night before subjecting her to it.

"You do? We should invite them to dinner tomorrow night, ne e?" she stated.

"I think we will," Ryo said.

"Sounds great," Dee agreed.

"Are we almost at your place?" Obāsan asked. "I cannot wait to see the place you call home now."

"You'll love it, Obāsan," Ryo said. "It's an apartment, but you'll know that it is a home. We're almost there now."

"I'm sure I will."

Obāsan stayed at their place for most of the remaining evening. Ryo had made dinner for them. When his grandmother was ready to go back to the hotel, Dee was tired. So Obāsan said goodnight to Dee, telling him to get to bed. Ryo drove his grandmother to the hotel, staying a few minutes to talk to his aunts and uncles before heading home and joining Dee in getting a good night's sleep.

Ryo's family had rooms in a Japanese owned hotel near 34th Street on Park Avenue. The next evening after work, Dee and Ryo stopped off at the orphanage to pick up Mother, and then met Ryo's family, including Rick and Elena at the Kitano Hotel. During the day, they had invited Dee's college friends, Eddie and Kevin, along with Martha. Everyone got together for dinner and an evening of relaxing in Obāsan's suite, which was decorated in the traditional style of a Japanese home, as Ryo got to catch up with his family, and his family getting to know Dee and Mother more.

* * *

Chotto matte, kudasai – I'm sure everyone knows basic Japanese, but just in case, this is translated as "One moment, please".

A/N: I'm glad everyone enjoyed the bachelor parties. I tried my best to have each party suit Ryo and Dee, as I'm sure was exactly what Barry and Rick thought of too as they planned the parties. (Is it just me, or was Rick having WAAY too much fun at them? LOL!)

I'm currently starting to get the next chapter ready to send out for beta, so hopefully it won't be too long before the next update. I'm in the final stretch of finishing TUII with the draft chapters. 3 or 4 more chapters and then after a little break, I'll be starting TUIII.

Now onto comments:

Extra stuff. First before I forget: is my primary email addy. Don't be afraid to use it – to talk TU, ask for links to scanlated 2nd Season chapters or even some of Sanami Matoh's other stuff (I have several of her doujinshiis that I'm slowly scanning up), etc.

LiveJournal addy: totally4ryo./ I'm going to start putting up the links to the scanlated 2nd Season chapters, as well as the raw scan for new chapters until the scanlated version is available. There's also a one shot fic I did for a LJ Community challenge that covers that time where Ryo got in his lucky shot, if anyone is interested. Plus I'm going to be posting some extras for TU (I lived in Japan for three years, and had lots of Japanese friends – I got their habit of doing more for something than just the single project, what can I say?). Anyway, here's a link to an image of the wrapping paper (cards, etc) mentioned in this chapter: pics./totally4ryo/pic/0001b409

As part of the interactive part of this fic, I started a map on Google with the places mentioned in the fic. I'm still adding places, but here's the link, for those who are not from NY to get an idea of things. I'll have it up on my LiveJournal too, along with some other goodies as we get past the wedding. Here's the link to the map:

maps./maps/ms?hlen&ieUTF8&msa0&msid109341256095405605213.00044b96d176d96a67979&ll40.779502,-73.901596&spn0.212658,0.466919&th&z11

chibigirlflower – I like that stork too. Maybe we can convince him to return for a baby shower?

Trunks lil' sis – I have to say that you thoughtful and insightful reviews are inspiring. I want to thank you for taking the time to give your thoughts so eloquently. Yes, I did try to create a bachelor party for each of them that is unique to their personalities. Besides, I figure that was on Rick and Barry's minds while they were planning the parties. Ryo's was naughty, but I don't think he would have been comfortable with some of the things they had for Dee's party – at least not in front of others – even with his growing confidence as an openly gay man about to be married.

kitty-chik – a drunk!Ryo once in a while is fun. And since he can drink and it is his party, why not? Hehehe.

Hypergirl321 – did you get my message? If not, email addy above. Maybe even I answered your question above.

Okay, those who have their spoons and outfits at the ready, after this next chapter, we're going to start getting ready for a wedding. I'm doing my best to get the next few chapters out as fast as I possibly can.

Alrighty, enough of me yakking away and time to post. Yes? Hope you like!


	19. The Final Countdown

March 9, 2006

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 19 – The Final Countdown  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.  
A/N: Once again, big HUGS and thanks to Gracie Musica for not only helping with the first scene of this chapter, but for suggesting it. Thanks for loaning me your Ryo muse in giving Dee and Ryo a fun evening out at the movies. You're the best, lady!

Beta by Dawn -- hugs

* * *

**March 9, 2006**

Early evening Ryo and Dee met up with Mother to have dinner with her family who had flown in from Ireland earlier. Ryo was introduced to Dee's family. The meal was enjoyable. Mother's family had just as much money as Ryo's, yet they acted so differently from most of his own family. They were more down to earth, and who did not let money dictate how they acted. The fact that they took over a backroom of an Irish bar and grill for their meal told Ryo much about the Lanes. Ryo guessed that they probably drank like the Irish too, but for Dee's sake only soft drinks were consumed in the room. Dee and Ryo had both dressed nice but comfortable for the dinner, and noticed so had the members of Mother's family. The family gushed over Dee and his baby pooch as they called his swell. The older women told everyone how they remembered Dee as a wee one, which was the last time they saw him.

It was obvious to Ryo that Mother's family accepted Dee as her son, and one of their own. By the end of the evening as they parted for the night, they had embraced Ryo as one of their own too. Dee was beaming as they made their way out of the bar, and Ryo shared his feelings. They were extremely lucky to have family who accepted them, and traveled from overseas to share their big day.

It was still early enough for Ryo to suggest that they catch a movie in a small theater that played foreign films a few blocks from their building. Ryo's reasoning was if they stayed out for a couple more hours, Dee would be ready to call it a night when they got home and fall asleep. As hyped up as Dee was, Ryo knew the other man would never get to sleep at a decent time if they went right home. Yet a movie was just relaxing enough to not overtax Dee at the end of a very busy, exciting day.

Earlier that morning at work, their co-workers had thrown them a surprise wedding shower. They had left work at lunch, starting their leave for the wedding and honeymoon.

Before meeting up with Mother and her family, they had gone for their final fitting of their wedding suits. Instead of bringing the suits home, Marcel had assured them that all the suits for the wedding would be delivered to the suites set aside for pre-ceremony preparations in the luxury office/condo building the wedding ceremony was to take place in.

Dee protested a little when Ryo suggested the movie, but gave in, realizing that he was given extra time to be outside, instead of locked up in their apartment.

Inside the small movie theater, they sat in the back row. Dee had his arm around Ryo, his head resting against his soon-to-be husband's shoulder. "So tell me why we're watching a French movie with subtitles?" he whispered.

"Because there were no Japanese movies playing?" Ryo replied, also in a whisper. He giggled when Dee turned his head to glare mildly at him. "Because it's artsy and we're culturing the chibi. Bikky's too far gone, but not this one." He gently rubbed the swell of Dee's belly. "Isn't that right, Chibi?"

"And you're hoping I'm not too far gone either, huh?" Dee asked, and kissed the side of Ryo's head.

Ryo smiled at Dee. "I could care less about you. I love you just the way you are." He captured Dee's lips for a proper kiss. He pulled his head away just enough to whisper to Dee's mouth, "And because it's so artsy, the theater is nice and empty." He kissed Dee again.

Dee rubbed Ryo's shoulder as they kissed. "Oh? Shall we make like teenagers two days before we get married," he asked, still in a whisper.

Ryo laughed as he noticed the bounce of excitement from Dee as he mentioned their getting married. "No," Ryo said. He lightly kissed Dee and pulled his head away. "We're _trying_ to instill some culture here."

Dee pouted, but settled back down to watch the movie. It did not matter what they did, as long as he did it with Ryo. If Ryo wanted to watch some artsy French movie with subtitles, he would deal with it. Besides, the artist in Dee could not help but pay attention to the experimental ways the movie was filmed, how shadows were more pronounced during key moments. It was actually a decent film, but he was not about to admit that to Ryo.

On the screen, the two leading characters found themselves in a beautiful garden, and started to kiss. Dee's eyes widened, as the two characters were male. Somehow he missed that fact when Ryo read the review to him earlier. Then again, he only half listened. He knew they would go no matter, but at the time he could care less what a critic had to say about it.

Dee realized what was supposed to be just kissing was very erotic. And now they were slowly starting to undress themselves.

Ryo was still rubbing his bump. "Chibi, your Daddy's a bad man," Ryo softly said, amused, unaware of what was happening on the screen.

Dee's eyes went back to the screen and moaned slightly as he watched one of the men fondle the other. "Chibi, your Papa's the bad man," he said just as softly as Ryo, careful not to get them kicked out. "Taking us to this movie." He chuckled and turned his head to nibble on Ryo's earlobe.

Ryo chuckled softly, turning his head for a kiss. He stroked Dee's hair as they indulged in the kiss. Dee's hand strayed to rub Ryo's chest through the soft cotton of Ryo's shirt.

"Mmm, Dee…." Ryo sighed, breaking the kiss for air. He took a few deep breaths, willing himself not to jump Dee and take him right there.

"Hm?" Dee chuckled, sensing Ryo's urgency. He rested his head against his lover's. "You know, this is our last night together unmarried." Dee mused in a whisper.

"I know." Ryo smiled softly, running his fingers through Dee's hair. "I'm going to miss you tomorrow night."

Dee sighed. "You think they'll let us see each other at breakfast on Saturday?"

"Doubtful. You know Mother, and now you know Obāsan. Plus I believe Elena is in agreement with this new formed alliance they have." Ryo kissed Dee's nose. "But we have cell phones." He grinned at Dee.

"That was scary to find out those two were in cahoots even before yesterday through Elena.

Ryo laughed softly. "Were you all that surprised? 'Cause when I think about it, I'm not. I know Obāsan and Mother very well." He grinned at Dee, licking his lips. He continued to stroke Dee's hair.

Dee smiled back at Ryo, then went back to watching the movie.

Ryo settled comfortably next to Dee and returned his attention to the screen. He looked at Dee as the other man made a breathless gasp that Ryo started to know very well. He rubbed the bump again. "Maybe Chibi doesn't like the movie if he's moving."

Dee sighed under Ryo's touch, his eyes riveted to the screen. "Jeez, what's the rating on this again?" he asked.

"None," Ryo replied.

"Figures. I should know better about these foreign unrated flicks." He placed his hand next to Ryo's. "Hey Chibi, you won't be seeing this one again for quite a few years."

"The sign at the box office did say it's not recommended for under 18," Ryo said.

"I missed that."

Ryo laughed. "It's not that bad."

"Well, I can understand why it would say that."

"Huh?"

"Well, it's not dirty, like your basic porn flick, but damn… it's very sensual, erotic, and hot." Dee tugged at the collar of his shirt.

Ryo grinned and whispered into Dee's ear, "Are you sure it's not because you're close to your hot lover?" He licked the shell of the ear.

"There's that," Dee agreed with a smile, shivering from what Ryo was doing to him. "But… this is raising the bar a bit."

He pointed to the screen, where the couple were starting to make slow, but passionate love.

Ryo looked back to the screen, taking in the sex scene. "Ooh… yeah, you're right about that."

"I think we need to find out if this one's on DVD," Dee mused.

Ryo grinned ruefully. "Didn't realize it was so racy." He laughed, then kissed Dee.

Dee went back to rubbing Ryo's chest as they kissed, opening a button of Ryo's shirt.

Ryo grinned at Dee. "Mmm, love. You're in quite a mood tonight, aren't you?

"Well, I was more in the mood to go home to cuddle and then some," Dee admitted with a small grin. "And now this movie." He leered at Ryo.

Smiling, Ryo pulled Dee until the other man ended up sitting in his lap.

"Good thing we picked the last row," Dee chuckled and kissed Ryo.

Ryo laughed, returning the kiss.

"I guess we're the only ones crazy enough to go see a French film," Dee remarked when they broke the kiss.

"Or it's been running long enough," Ryo said, then laughed low. He pulled Dee's head close to kiss him again.

Dee passionately kissed Ryo back, his arms going around his soon-to-be husband as he started to press the other man into the seat.

"Dee…" Ryo moaned softly. "Damn." He let out a sigh.

"Hmm?" Dee asked, nuzzling along Ryo's jaw.

"You know," Ryo whispered in Dee's ear, his voice deepened with passion. "I'm tempted to just do you right here, right now."

"I'm tempted to open our flies and then make myself comfortable in your lap again," was Dee's reply.

Ryo shook his head, trying to clear it from the fog of passion before he found himself doing something they both would regret if caught. "You know," he said, teasing Dee, "I was so hoping to hold off until our wedding night, but…."

"I thought that was for tomorrow night?"

Ryo stroked Dee's hair, gazing at Dee's face. "You've had so much excitement for one day," he replied, turning serious. "The wedding shower this morning at work, then meeting your family for dinner tonight. I was thinking that we'd watch this movie to unwind, and then take you home and tuck you in for a good night's sleep."

Dee was grinning at Ryo. "It was a long day, but a good one. Especially hearing everyone in my family tell me what a handsome man I'm getting married to. And see how some of those women were eyeing you. Even the older ones. Can't blame them." He lightly kissed Ryo's lips.

"I'm marrying quite a handsome man too," Ryo said with a smile, his fingers still running through Dee's dark, thick locks.

"So I've been hearing since your family arrived," Dee remarked, grinning. He rubbed his nose against Ryo's and sighed happily. "I'm so happy," he stated. "I mean, both our families here for our wedding, giving us their blessings."

Ryo's other hand had strayed between them and was gently rubbing Dee's tummy. "I agree." He kissed Dee softly.

"I guess the ones that might have started trouble didn't want to deal with traveling overseas," Dee mused.

"And just as well they stay overseas," Ryo remarked. He kissed Dee lightly. "Although I'd still be marrying you, even if I didn't have anyone's blessing."

Dee smiled lovingly. "Me too," he agreed. "But just knowing we have family on our side… it makes the day all that more special in a way, if you know what I mean." His smile brightened. "And Obāsan… that woman had me in tears. She's wonderful."

Ryo gently stroked Dee's face, his smile matching Dee's. "'Cause you're so good for me. She could tell."

Dee leaned into Ryo's touch. "I intend to be so for the rest of our lives," he intoned, then bent his head for another kiss.

"I know," Ryo said into the kiss.

"I love you, Ryo."

"I love you, too, Dee. More than anything."

Dee felt his eyes get misty and realized another of those teary eyed moments was approaching. He cleared his throat and asked, "Hey, what are they doing now in that movie?" He turned his head to look at the screen.

Ryo laughed softly, pulled Dee closer to him. "I don't care." He started to stroke Dee's hair again.

Dee looked back at Ryo, past the moment and grinned. "Oh? So, wanna tell me what you do care about?" He looked down at Ryo with an impish smile.

"You, silly." Ryo smiled up at Dee. "Who else would I care about?"

"Ahh…" De slid a finger between the buttons of Ryo's dress shirt. Ryo continued to smile at him as his finger stroked the smooth skin of Ryo's chest. "Ohh! No tee under your shirt tonight, stud?"

Ryo laughed. "Forgot," he replied.

"So sexy," Dee murmured as he continued to stroke Ryo's chest softly.

Ryo made an appreciative sound as he continued to smile at Dee, his fingers still running soothingly through the silky hair.

"You know," Dee softly mused, "about waiting until our wedding night. Just thought to let you know that Chibi sleeps better after we have sex. She's going to be so unhappy tomorrow night."

The hand that was rubbing Dee's bump went under the shirt and continued to rub the swell. "I'm sorry to hear about that," Ryo said. He looked down to the bump. "Sorry about that, Chibi."

"Well, anyway, she'd be really happy if she doesn't have to deal with two nights in a row…." Dee leered at Ryo, licking his lips.

Ryo laughed softly. "No, Dee."

Dee pouted for a reply.

Ryo softly patted Dee's tummy before pulling his hand out from under Dee's shirt.

Dee attempted to squirm a little in Ryo's lap, licking his lips again, staring at Ryo.

Ryo shook his head. "You're exhausted already, Dee. If we made love now, you'd barely be able to walk home."

"Aww…." This time Dee's pout was genuine. "Well, is this allowed?" He kissed Ryo again.

"Mmm, kisses are always allowed." Ryo laughed softly, threading his fingers through Dee's hair. His other hand rested on Dee's stomach again.

Dee let out a heavy sigh. "As much as this film actually is interesting, can we go home and get more comfortable please?"

Ryo checked his watch. "Hmm…. Well okay," he said in a teasing tone. "I guess if we go home, I'll do you." As Dee started to leer at Ryo, he added, "If you promise to go to sleep right after."

Dee nodded his head, and deeply kissed Ryo. "I always sleep better after too." He smiled at Ryo.

Rubbing Dee's tummy gently, Ryo giggled softly. "I know you do. So does Chibi really sleep better? I can't feel him yet."

"Yes she does," Dee replied and chuckled at their personal use of pronouns for the baby. "Even Vince said it's good for her. When I'm relaxed, so is she. And that relaxes me very much, thank you." He kissed Ryo's nose. "And don't worry. Now that I'm feeling Chibi, you will be soon enough. Because I know she's anxious to let her Papa know she's there."

"I know he's there," Ryo said with a laugh. "I saw the sonogram photo, remember?" He lowered his head a little to make as if talking to Dee's stomach. "You still look like a blob."

"It should look different next month," Dee remarked. He chuckled. "When we find out if Chibi really is a She or a He."

"You want a girl, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter. Like I said, I look at that sonogram picture and it says 'She' to me. But here?" He pointed to the swell of his tummy. "Maybe it could be a 'He'." Dee shrugged. "I just don't want to say 'It'. So since she looks like a girl to me, until we know for sure, I'm going to say she."

"I…" Ryo started, then smiled softly. "Is it wrong of me to say I hope she looks like Mom if it's a girl?"

"Since I have no clue what my real mother looks like, or if I had one, then I hope so too. 'Cause she'll also look a lot like her Papa." Dee's smile was gentle.

"I'm sure your mother was beautiful," Ryo said. "I mean, you had to get your looks from somewhere."

Dee shrugged. "I'll never know. So I concentrate on what I do know. And that is, your mother was very beautiful, and she took after her mother. That's good enough for me if we have a girl."

Ryo kissed Dee. "I hope our baby has your pretty eyes," he softly said, stroking Dee's cheek. "Mine are so boring."

"You have gorgeous eyes. Dark, exotic, hell, I could stare into your eyes all day and never be bored."

"Flatterer," Ryo commented. "Yours are the pretty ones."

"I speak the truth. Wasn't it your eyes that was the first thing I noticed about you?" Dee asked.

"It was," Ryo replied with a soft smile. "You nearly knocked me into the wall staring at them."

"Because I found them so beautiful to gaze into," Dee remarked, grinning. "I didn't know it then, but looking back, at that moment, I was already a goner for you."

"You are a flatterer," Ryo said, blushing.

Dee kissed one of Ryo's heated cheeks.

"I know when I was a goner," Ryo said.

"Oh? When?"

"When you kissed me. That first one," Ryo admitted.

Dee grinned. "That was why you put that barricade up between us on our desks?"

"Yes. You scared me. I wasn't expecting to be attracted to my partner. Much less, my male partner."

"Yeah, well, and now the day after tomorrow, you're getting married to that male partner."

"Yes, I am," Ryo said, then kissed Dee again. "Okay love. Let's go home."

"Good. Just remember the name of this movie."

"Roger that. It's on our ticket stubs anyway," Ryo replied.

"Hey, you think they might have it in the Bahamas?" Dee asked.

"Some islands are French owned, so it's worth a shot."

"Good. I think I'd like to finish watching this in the privacy of our suite." Dee caressed Ryo's cheek for a moment before standing up. He held out his hand toward Ryo.

Ryo took Dee's hand with a smile, then laughed as Dee gave a slight tug. He stood up, leaning into Dee's arms.

Dee kissed Ryo again. "C'mon, my handsome husband to be. Let's go home and enjoy one last night living in sin."

"Mmm… living in sin…" As they started to leave the theater, Ryo glanced up at Dee. "I do have just one more night to violate you." He grinned wickedly at Dee. "My innocent."

Dee chuckled as he patted his bump. "Not so innocent, judging by this."

"Hmm…" Ryo also patted the bump. "I agree. You're not innocent at all."

Dee took Ryo's hand in his as they made their way to the street. "I might be a nun's son, but trust me, I ain't no Virgin Mary," Dee joked, with a wink.

Ryo laughed, shaking his head.

"But you can still violate me," Dee added. "All you want."

"I like the sound of that. How about we violate each other?" Ryo asked. He patted Dee's swell again. "You won't be able to violate me too much longer."

"Tell me about it!" Dee remarked with a laugh. "I guess the honeymoon comes at a good time." As they continued to leisurely walk down the street in the direction to their place, Dee said, "You know, it's all your fault." He smiled teasingly at Ryo. "I mean if you didn't violate me in the kitchen that time, I'd still be just violating you."

"You weren't complaining at the time," Ryo stated, laughing. "Quite the opposite, if memory serves me right."

"Baby, I had no choice." Dee shivered slightly, licking his lips. "Damn, just thinking about that night makes me want to do it right here."

"Wait until we get home, and I will." Ryo squeezed the hand holding his. With a wicked grin, he leaned up slightly and managed to lick Dee's earlobe.

Dee shivered again. "Stop teasing me and let's keep walking, please. Or someone is going to get a surprise in their hallway."

Ryo giggled, and managed to stop them to nibble more on Dee's ear. Dee squirmed and giggled, then pouted when Ryo pulled away to continue their walk.

As they walked the few blocks to their apartment, Ryo kept teasing Dee. He had been assured that none of the Carriers killed had been with someone when they were abducted. Should the killer decide to make an exception with Dee, Ryo was prepared, since his gun was holstered under his sports jacket that evening.

Inside the lobby of their building, Dee pressed the button for the elevator and pushed Ryo against the wall.

Ryo laughed softly as his back hit the wall, kissing Dee back. "Patience, lover," he said into the kiss. He laughed as Dee pouted.

When the elevator doors open, Dee pulled Ryo into the elevator and hit the button for their floor.

Ryo continued to laugh at Dee's impatience. His laughter turned into a moan as Dee started to nibble his neck. Dee's hand slid from Ryo's abs down toward his crotch. Ryo moaned again. "Dee… calm down… We're almost home. Besides, we don't have anything with us."

"Baby, at the moment I'm so horny, I'd never notice what we don't have."

"I know, lover, I know." Ryo grabbed onto the hand that almost latched onto his rapidly growing bulge in his pants and laced their fingers together. "Later you will."

Dee was busy trying to rub up against Ryo, and not paying much attention to reason. Ryo pushed back a little. Dee sighed and looked at the lights on the panel in the elevator. "Almost there."

Ryo kissed his nose, squeezing Dee's hands. "It's those damn hormones, isn't it? You're getting into that phase lately."

"This keeps up, you know you're not going to be able to touch me at all when we're at work."

Ryo giggled. "I know. Or in the streets. In cabs. This could be interesting."

"It's not that funny," Dee remarked with a pout as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

Ryo pushed Dee away and then pulled him out of the elevator, into the hall and toward the entryway of their apartment.

Dee whimpered, trying not to rub himself as Ryo unlocked the door. Once he had the door open, Ryo kissed Dee, moving them into the apartment. He kicked the front door closed and fumbled behind Dee to lock it.

Dee's hands were under Ryo's now open coat and pulling his shirt out from his pants.

Assured that the door was properly locked, Ryo allowed his coat to drop on the floor, his sports jacket following, as he pushed Dee into the bedroom, his hands starting to remove Dee's clothes. Dee's coat hit the floor a few feet from Ryo's as the two made their way toward the bedroom.

Ryo was amazed they made it into their bedroom. Dee's shirt came off and tossed toward a corner. They paused so Ryo could remove his holster and shove it into the nearby wardrobe for the time.

Dee tweaked one of Ryo's nipples as they kissed hard and passionately, Ryo's hands roaming along Dee's strong back muscles. "Dee," Ryo moaned softly. He managed to pull himself away from Dee when they were a few feet from the bed. With a grin, he quickly picked Dee up and carefully dropped him onto the bed.

Taken by surprise by the action, Dee let out a squeak, then laughed as Ryo climbed on the bed, hovering over him. Dee pulled Ryo down. "Come here, sexy."

"Hang on a moment," Ryo said, kissing Dee heatedly, pressing him into the mattress, while still being careful not to lay on Dee's abdomen. Dee was squirming under Ryo, starting to moan. Ryo reached out for the nightstand, and grabbed the lube. "Now you're gonna get it," he stated to Dee.

"I hope so," was all Dee was able to utter as Ryo started to remove the last remaining articles of clothing.

* * *

**March 10, 2006**

As the attendants started to arrive for the rehearsal, they all found it was not hard to find the exact location once they arrived at the correct address of the office/luxury condo tower.

"This place looks pretty posh," Drake commented to the others from CI. They were allowed to leave work an hour early to make it on time for the rehearsal.

"Hey, if Rose suggested it, you know it's posh," Ted commented, looking up at the building.

"Both Ryo and Dee decided to go upscale," JJ said, also looking up.

There was just a slight edge to his tone that caused Drake to nudge him. "Remember that Dee wanted this too," Drake reminded him. "He's not being forced into anything he doesn't like. You sat with them for some of the planning. Remember how excited Dee would start to get?"

"I know. I know. It's just…." JJ sighed and glanced up at Drake. He indicated the building before them. "It just doesn't feel like Dee to me."

"Hey, as long as the man is happy and they can afford it, let Dee have the wedding he wants, man," Marty said. His eyes were on the waiting limousine, and the man who left the building to get in. Marty figured it was some CEO of some company. With a shrug, Marty started to walk into the building, the others following.

"Hell, I doubt I could afford a cheap wedding," Ted remarked when they were in the lobby. "So I'm really looking forward to all the parties planned for this weekend."

JJ sniffed. "That would mean an entire weekend you don't have to pay for food and alcohol."

"You got that right," Ted grinned.

"Sorry, JJ, but I'm with Ted on that," Drake remarked with a smile. "I wonder if they'll serve some of that rich people stuff at the reception, like caviar or something like that?"

Marty slapped Ted on the arm. "If you can't afford a cheap wedding, then you should be thankful you haven't landed a girlfriend to hang on long enough to get there yet." He laughed at the face Ted made.

"Ass," Ted commented. "Well now. Lookie this," he exclaimed, pointing to a sign in the middle of the lobby.

"You think we need to use elevator 2?" Marty laughed.

"Let's see here," Drake commented as he also pointed to the sign that had an arrow going toward the elevators. "It says Laytner-MacLean wedding, elevator 2. Atrium Express. Gee!" He laughed, looking at the others.

"Let's go," JJ said, walking in the direction of the elevators. He pushed the button to go up for the elevator marked 2.

When the doors opened, Marty exclaimed, "A glass elevator! How cool is this?"

"Yeah, nice touch, I'm sure," JJ sighed.

Drake shook his head. "Stop the grumbling, huh? What's with you anyway. Until now, you were all excited about this wedding. Besides, you don't have a problem wearing pink."

JJ chuckled. "No, I don't. And you need to wear it because Dee and Ryo made you my partner in the procession. And I'm wearing pink!"

"Better you two, than us," Ted chuckled.

"I look horrible in pink," Drake complained as the elevator made its way up to the top floor.

"You look fine," JJ assured him.

"Yeah, well imagine me in yellow," Ted stated.

"It'll go well with that red hair of yours," JJ said. "I even told Dee and Ryo that when they were working out the colors for the wedding party."

"You all just need to suck it up," Marty quipped. "It's not like they're making us wear dresses. And I think it's a nice touch to the tuxes. Not to mention it's such a fine cut, the tuxes they picked for us, wouldn't you say?"

"Carlotto Zupinolio is an awesome designer," JJ agreed. "But the prices for his suits are just a little out of reach, even for me. So I'm glad I get to wear one."

"I'm amazed that they're letting us keep the suits after the wedding," Ted said. "Don't they like have to return wedding clothes to the store or something afterward?"

JJ shook his head. "Only if you're wearing hand me downs. These suits were custom fitted for us. Mine's going into a bag and wait for another chance to wear it."

"I agree. I love the thought of getting to keep our tuxes," Marty stated. "In fact, I intend to put it on one of these months and take Darla out for a nice meal and some dancing."

Ted rolled his eyes. "How quaint."

JJ poked Ted in his arm. "And that's why you'll always be a groomsman and never a groom."

"I guess I should consider myself lucky," Ted sighed. "At least I'm still free," he stated."

"Do I want to know how much those things cost?" Drake asked.

Marty laughed. "Dude, you don't want to know. One thing to consider is that in that shop where we were fitted, there ain't one price tag to be seen."

"Best for Dee," JJ sighed. "Oh, Dee knows a lot of money was spent on everything, but he doesn't want to know specifics. He nearly fainted when he found out what it cost them for the wedding coordinator alone, so Ryo told me."

Marty laughed. "Yeah, I guess it was a little hard to keep that cost from him if he's signing the contract."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Ted's eyes opened wide. "Holy mother…"

JJ laughed at the others' reactions. Suddenly seeing the start of Dee and Ryo's visions for the wedding turning into a reality, he found himself coming out of his strange funk and starting to get excited. "It's no where near done for tomorrow either," he commented as they started to walk down the hallway constructed of silk material giving it an appearance of walking through a tent. They noticed the tables set up in intervals down the hallway.

Halfway down was Dee, Ryo, Mother and the children from the orphanage. The children were all smiles and excited. Mother was as happy as they could remember her seeing. Ryo had an aura about him that made it hard to be grumpy around him. And Dee was just beside himself with excitement and happiness.

"Nice set up you have going here," Marty commented in greeting as they approached the group.

"Not even done yet," Ryo stated, with a smile.

"So JJ was telling us," Ted replied.

"It already looks great," Dee said, his voice dancing with excitement. "I can't wait until we see it tomorrow."

They took a few minutes for the others to say hello to Mother.

"Everyone else is inside," Ryo stated. "Mother had just arrived with the children only a few minutes before you."

Sharon, their wedding coordinator, came walking out from the doorway leading into the main section of the atrium. "Is this the last of everyone?" she asked. When Dee and Ryo nodded their heads, she smiled. "Well then, shall we get this run on the road?"

"Hell yes!" Dee exclaimed, then looked ruefully at Mother.

Mother fondly tugged his ear. "Get in there, Dee."

"Yes, Mother."

Inside the atrium, once again mouths dropped as the men from CI gazed around the partially construction chamber for the wedding. White wood folding chairs made up the two seating sections on each side of the center aisle. White chiffon ribbons were strung along the end seats on each side of the aisle. Every so many rows there were columns. From the ceiling hung white netting of lights, with hanging panels criss-crossing lower in the wedding colors. On the far sides of the two sections of seating were piles of chairs indicating other sections were still in construction.

"Wow!" Ted remarked. "How many people are coming to this shindig?" he asked.

"A lot," Dee remarked with a grin. "The chairs are still naked, and all the flowers will be arriving tomorrow afternoon so they'll be fresh for the ceremony."

Drake was looking around the area. "Um Dee? Ryo? I hate to break it to you, but there are already flowers here. Flowers and trees and bushes."

Ryo laughed. "That's why it's called an atrium. Dee means the specialized flowers for decoration. You'll understand when you see tomorrow."

Everyone paused at the sound of bells jingling. Mother was walking toward the children holding sticks that had big bells attached to them and started to give them out.

The others in the wedding party got up from their seats and joined the group. After a few minutes of greeting, once again Sharon came up to them with a man that Dee and Ryo greeted, the soon-to-be married couple obviously having met him before.

To the rest of the assembled wedding party, Sharon spoke. "Okay everyone. This is Daniel, and he's going to help everyone get down the aisle with fashion and hopefully before the music ends." She laughed and patted Dee's cheek. "Don't worry, darling one. Daniel has a total success record. And no one has tripped down the center aisle either. So relax. We'll do this."

Dee took a deep breath. "It seemed so easy when we went over the points in the music but now…."

"That's why we're rehearsing early. No one is leaving until we get this right," Daniel stated. "And so far, no one on my shift has ever missed reservations for the dinner afterward."

"Oh goodie," Elena exclaimed. "Because we have the Crystal Room at Tavern on the Green reserved for 8 tonight."

"And you'll make it, my dear lady," Daniel stated with a smile. "But I do suggest we get things started. Everyone can grab a seat and get comfortable while we play the song Dee and Ryo selected for the most important walk these two will take."

Dee took Ryo's hand in his and smiled warmly, his face flushed from excitement. Ryo leaned against Dee with a bright sunny smile.

"I hope you like our selection. Dee actually picked it," Ryo said. "But when I heard it, I had to agree with him that it's perfect. We're not going for some slow number here."

"Agreed," Daniel said. "Personally, I think it's the best song I've had to work with for a processional ever. It's upbeat, lively, yet traditional Celtic. So, if one of my people would ever be so kind as to flip the switch, here we go."

The first strains of the song started off almost like a waltz with just violins, then the tempo of the song changed as the rest of the orchestra joined in. It was as Daniel described it, upbeat, lively and beautiful. Many of the wedding party were staring at Dee and Ryo halfway through the first run of the song, smiling. From the faces looking at the nearly wedded couple, they also agreed it was perfect for their wedding. In the middle, the change gave the song almost a fairy tale feel to it while still keeping the basic melody. It went back to the basic strains of the song. As it ended, some of the women were wiping their eyes. Dee was attempting to wipe his own eyes unnoticed until Ryo pulled out a hankie and handed it to Dee. Everyone laughed and Dee turned a lovely shade of crimson.

Ryo laughed, kissing Dee. "Don't mind my beautiful very soon to be husband here," he announced to their wedding attendants. "But I had to be prepared since Dee has been having bouts of the vapors since we woke up this morning." He grinned at Dee, and kissed his red faced fiancé again.

Dee made a face at Ryo, sticking his tongue out. "Vapors!" he exclaimed. "You and your fantasy books. I'll give you vapors," Dee threatened, sounding amused rather than annoyed, know matter how hard he tried to come across otherwise.

Ryo smirked, his dark eyes twinkling. "You are already. All day long."

Their wedding party laughed at Ryo's comment and the look on Dee's face.

"The song is just lovely," Diana exclaimed. "And… I don't know why, but it fits you."

"It fits the overall feel that Dee and Ryo want to convey for this wedding," Sharon explained. "And that is for everyone to know what their love feels like."

Mother nodded. "It does that indeed." She too was dabbing her eyes.

After the song was played a few more times, the next time it was played, Daniel talked over it, explaining what was expected to happen and who would be making their entrance. "Now don't worry," he stated after the song ended and the atrium was silent for the moment. "Someone will be at the main door, lining everyone up and telling them when it's their cue to start walking into the atrium and down the main aisle. Now I'm going to play it one more time to hear the children and their part in this, then we're going to head into the corridor and start lining up."

Sharon left the wedding party to Daniel's capable hands as she went about, making her rounds with the vendors who were setting up, assuring everything would be as Dee and Ryo expected the next day, and even more beautiful than they hoped.

An hour later, everyone sat in chairs in the hallway, watching as blue strips of gauze were draped from the white silk, along with strings of lights. Refreshments were broken out for the practicing party and everyone sat and talked. Ryo and Dee did not leave each other's side, holding hands or an arm around the other. Sometimes they appeared as if they forgot there were others there, as they shared something private, gazing into each other's eyes. Dee needed the hankie a few more times, and once even held it out to Ryo, who at one point, his eyes got misty.

A half hour after their break, Daniel proclaimed the last few walk throughs a complete success. By then, Japanese lanterns of different shapes in wedding colors were being hung from the ceiling hanging lower than the netting and drapes. Two more sections of chairs were set up on each side of the two main sections. They ran through it a few more times before Daniel decided everyone was ready for the big walk the next day.

There were a few more surprises tossed in during their practice time that made mouths dropped, women giggle and even some weep with happiness. Dee kept apologizing for wet eyes, blaming it on the baby. Everyone knew the baby had something to do with Dee's lack of control over his 'vapors' as Ryo kept teasing him lovingly, but mostly were tears generated was from his deep feelings of love for the man he was going to marry in 24 hours.

After another break, they ran through the ceremony with their clergy. Once again, people were surprised at the choice of clergy and the ceremony picked. It was basic and the most that the rest of the wedding party had to do was stand around until it was their time to give a brief contribution to the ceremony. Upon completion of the ceremony run through, everyone agreed it fit Ryo and Dee. To them, it was unique and beautiful and seemed to encompass their love.

It was just after 7pm when the rehearsal was declared a success and everyone could leave.

Ryo stood up on a planter for one of the trees at the front by the altar and called for everyone's attention. "Okay, I'm hoping everyone parked at the garage we suggested." As nods came from all around from those who drove, he added, "And hopefully you stated you were with the Laytner-MacLean wedding party?" Again heads nodded. "Good. Then you don't have to worry if you leave your cars where they are until later tonight after dinner. And don't worry about how much it will cost ya, because Dee and I are paying for your parking tonight. And for all parking tomorrow. Oh, one other thing – the transportation for everyone to get up to our meal in Central Park. So if everyone will meet Dee and me in the lobby, we'll take you out to our transport."

Excited chatter erupted among the children, who were already seeing better things than they were accustomed too. Earlier in the day, Dee sat down with them and told them to not get spoiled, but to remember this event and know that there will always be a chance for better things. The children already had better than most orphans, thanks to fundraiser drives Dee and Ryo put on. Yet, Dee knew they were getting very spoiled from the wedding. And it was all right as long as they did not let it affect them adversely.

While everyone made their way down to the lobby in groups, Dee and Ryo stayed behind to consult again with Sharon and a few of their vendors. Mother, Rick and Elena stayed behind. The next to the last group before the five were the children escorted by one of the helpers at the orphanage. At last, Dee and Ryo, flanked by their "parents" entered the elevator to meet everyone in the lobby.

They led the large group out of the building, and waiting for them was the same bus that had been used for Dee's bachelor party. There were cold soft drinks waiting for them on the bus as everyone settled down for a few hours of dinner and partying at the world famous Tavern on the Green.

Ryo's family from Japan and Dee's from Ireland were waiting for them as the bus arrived, having been invited to join the festivities. Dee had also invited his college friends, and Ryo asked Kevin to also join them. They figured those who had traveled far to share their wedding day should also have an extra party to look forward to.

Along with dinner was karaoke, dancing, toasting from the wedding party and families to the happy grooms and returned from Dee and Ryo. The bus pulled up at the garage downtown around midnight. Dee was already half asleep, leaning against Ryo with his eyes closed.

On the sidewalk, they said goodbye to their friends until the next day. Then Dee and Ryo were given a few private minutes to say goodnight. Thanks to joint planning between Mother and Obāsan, with a little help from Elena, the grooms would not see each other until it was time to head up to the atrium for the ceremony. Ryo was to go back to the hotel with his grandmother, and spend the day with his family until it was time to leave for the ceremony. Dee was going with Mother and her family to the hotel the relatives from Ireland were staying at. He would spend his pre-wedding time with his family. Bikky was to stay at the orphanage, along with Carol, to assist with getting the excited children to bed that night, and to help with getting them ready to leave later the next day.

Ryo pulled Dee into his arms and kissed him soundly. Resting his head against Dee's forehead he grinned. "Just think. We're almost married. The next time I see you will be just before we get to walk down the aisle again."

Dee's eyes misted up as he took a deep breath. "Oh God! It's happening. It's really really happening! I just wish I could spend tonight in your arms."

"Tomorrow, Dee. Tomorrow and the rest of our lives, we can spend the night in each others' arms as husband and husband."

Dee smirked a little as his fingers brushed a couple of stray tears from Ryo's eyes. "I love you, Ryo. Just getting married to you is a dream come true."

"I know, Dee. I feel the same. Which is why I'm glad we decided to go the way we did with the wedding. Why shouldn't the entire affair also be a dream come true?"

Dee giggled. "I guess I'm getting a fairy tale wedding after all."

"You deserve it, Dee. God, baby, do you deserve it."

"We deserve it, Ryo."

"Of course," Ryo agreed with a smile and met Dee's mouth for a sweet lingering kiss.

"I can't wait to see everything when it's all done tomorrow. Tonight, even under construction it looked… magical."

"'Cause we are, Dee. Our love is magic."

"It is." Dee rested a hand on his bump. "After all, the chibi is proof to that."

Ryo laughed and pulled away from Dee far enough to lean over and kiss Dee's tummy. "Sweet dreams, little chibi. I'll see you when you're ready to go down the aisle with your daddy."

Dee ran his fingers through Ryo's hair as the other man spoke. Ryo kissed the tummy again and straightened up.

"I don't want to say goodnight," Dee groaned.

"It's only for one night, Dee."

"How am I supposed to sleep?"

"You gotta try. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. And you don't want to conk out on your wedding night, now do you?"

Dee shook his head, making a horrified. "God forbid that should happen."

"Then try to go to sleep. Do those relaxation techniques you've been learning to help with the pregnancy. I'm sure they'll help. And if you find you can't get to sleep unless you hear my voice, then you have your cell. Call me. I don't care if you wake me or not. Who knows, I might even be calling you."

"Okay. As long as we both know we can call each other."

"Of course. Now, the sooner we say goodnight, the sooner we get to our hotels. The sooner that happens, the sooner we can try to get to sleep and when we wake up, we're going to be busy and suddenly… I'll be watching the world's most gorgeous man coming down the aisle to spend the rest of his life with little ol' me."

"You're not old. And you're the most gorgeous man," Dee argued with a chuckle.

"We both are the two most gorgeous men in the world. Okay?" Ryo stated with a breathy laugh.

"Agreed. Because we are. That's why we're so perfect for each other."

"That and so many other reasons, Dee. Now kiss me and go join your family, love."

"I guess."

The kissed passionately until they had to break for air. "Wow!" Dee exclaimed.

"You think that's something? Just wait and see what I have planned for you when we're told we can kiss each other," Ryo stated with a smile and a wink.

"I can hardly wait. Besides that would mean we'll be married."

"Yes it would."

Dee hugged Ryo again and kissed him lightly. "Good night, Ryo. I love you."

"I love you too, Dee. More than anything. I'll see you in our dreams tomorrow, gorgeous." He lightly kissed Dee again and leaned over to give another kiss to their unborn child. He smiled lovingly at the man he was going to marry the next day. "Tomorrow Dee."

"Yeah," Dee said softly. "Tomorrow."

The two men smiled and then walked away in different directions toward their waiting families.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Hugs to all.

As you can see from where this chapter ended, it's easy to figure out what comes next. However, the wedding actually ended up being several chapters. I got caught up in writing everything for the wedding (including taking a few suggestions from my dear friend Gracie Musica) so it's several chapters long. I am going to do my best to get the wedding chapters out as soon as I can. The goal is an update once a week, maybe sooner.


	20. March Madness

"Well, look at you looking all handsome," Ryo heard Elena's voice call out

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 20 – March Madness

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Beta by Dawn  
A/N: I just wanted to put up here about whenever Akira, Ryo's grandmother, uses Dee's name. The literal translation of the katakana for Dee is 'Dei'. There's a slight difference in infliction when saying 'Dee' and 'Dei' using Japanese pronunciation, even if they both more or less come out to 'Dee'. Akira and the rest of Ryo's family speak English well enough to make the difference. Thus most of Ryo's Japanese relatives call him 'Dee'. However, Akira does not, even if she could. She prefers it, and her special way of bringing Dee into the family. So whenever she is speaking, you will notice that Dee's name is spelled 'Dei'.

**March 11, 2006**

"JJ, get up," JJ heard at the same time he was roughly shaken for a moment. Groggy from the unpleasant way of being pulled from a pleasant dream of him and Drake doing much more than they had the night before, he turned, expecting to find his partner on the other side of the bed.

He let out a yawn as he settled on his other side and looked to find Drake was not in the bed. Drake was standing in the small space between the bed and his closet. He had on his pants and was throwing a bulky sweater over his undershirt.

"What the hell?" JJ blinked. "What do you mean, 'JJ, get up'?" he asked, watching Drake dress with sleepy eyes.

"What do you think I mean, Detective Adams? Get up. Out of the bed. Into clothes and get moving," Drake replied.

JJ's eyes went to the digital clock on the shelf next to the bed. "Drake, it's not even 5:30 in the morning. We don't have to be there until 2:30 in the afternoon."

"And I'm hoping we make it," Drake said, looking concerned. "I got a call from Chief and we have to go."

JJ bolted up in the bed. "We're off today! Today is Dee's wedding! No crime scenes…"

"Another Carrier was found," Drake stated grimly. "This one is in Queens. At least someone had the insight there to contact the 27th for anything with the Carrier Killer's MO."

JJ was on his feet, searching where he placed his pants. "Oh holy God. Not today. Not on Dee's wedding day," JJ groaned.

"JJ, Dee's getting married today, no matter what. However, we just might not be there for it."

JJ grabbed his pants and pulled them on. "I want to be there!" JJ almost wailed, zipping his fly furiously. "Damn him… damn that bastard to hell for striking today, of all days."

Drake was watching JJ, holding the other man's shirt from the night before. He knew the smaller detective was deeply disturbed by his language. "I know," Drake tried to placate JJ. "It's been quiet for a while. I was hoping whoever is doing the killing got tired and stopped."

JJ nodded as he took his shirt from Drake. "I know. It'd be harder to find our perp, but at least no more Carriers and unborn babies would be killed if he did stop."

"His ass would still be in prison once we get him," Drake stated. "Sorry, JJ, but coffee on the go today."

"It's going to be Starbucks," JJ said as he started to walk out of the bedroom. He realized Drake did not follow him. "Drake? C'mon, let's go."

"I'm just throwing everything I'll need for the wedding together quickly, just in case we don't have time to come back here," Drake called out.

"Oh yeah." JJ looked around the living room and located his overnight bag on the couch. "You're right." He started for the bag when he stopped and changed direction. "Great. I forgot to take a leak. Hang on, Drake." He slipped into the bathroom.

When JJ came out of the bathroom and walked into the living room, Drake was waiting holding his bag and JJ's, along with their coats. He handed JJ his coat. "Are we all ready now?"

JJ nodded. "I'm glad I left all the wedding accessories in the bag."

Drake held the front door open for JJ. "Wedding accessories?" he asked, as JJ left the apartment.

"Yes. You know, things to go with my clothes."

Drake locked the 2nd lock on his door and turned to walk with JJ down the stairs. "JJ, so help me, if you pull out diamond earrings later today…."

JJ laughed. "I wish! Oh, I wish you thought of that earlier, so I could have borrowed a pair from someone. Can you imagine Dee and Ryo's faces if I wore diamond earrings?"

Drake chuckled. "Don't forget the tiara. No, scratch that. Dee would claw your eyes out. He's the queen today…. Um, no pun intended."

"If Dee heard you call him a queen," JJ chuckled. "I mean, sure he's been acting like a Bridezilla here and there, and he's pregnant, but he's still far from a queen."

"You should know, huh?" Drake stated. When JJ gave him a mild glare, he laughed. "Besides, did you see the shirt Barry gave Mother to make Dee wear when he wakes up for breakfast this morning?"

"The Groomzilla one?" JJ laughed. "Oh, what I would do to see video of when she gives it to him." They walked through the small foyer of Drake's building and out the door.

"Oh God," JJ sighed, as he noticed the white flurries gently fall to the white ground. "Dee's going to be earning that shirt when he wakes up this morning and discovered it's been snowing all night."

Drake shook his head. "It's not so bad. And once everyone in this city wakes up and starts going about, all this pretty white stuff will be gone."

They walked halfway up the block to where JJ had parked his car. The night before, after they were dropped off at the garage near the building the atrium was in, they went to Drake's apartment. Considering the time they got home from the rehearsal dinner the evening before, they were hoping for a slow, lazy day until they had to start getting ready to leave for the wedding. JJ had packed for an overnight at Drake's, along with everything he would need for the wedding.

"Where are we going in Queens?" JJ asked as he started the car up.

Drake snickered. "Queens."

"Hush now. Dee's not a queen. Neither I am… if you expect to go back to my place tonight after all the festivities, instead of sleeping alone."

"No. You're not. And Flushing Meadow Park. Somewhere along Meridian Road off the Van Wyck Expressway. Chief and the Commissioner are going to meet us there."

"Oh great. There goes the wedding for sure," JJ groaned as he pulled out.

"Maybe not. Rose is to be Diana's escort."

"Let's hope that he can get us free just until tomorrow if needed," JJ sighed, going down the street and heading in the direction of Queens-Midtown Tunnel, hoping it would be a faster way to their destination so early on a snowy Saturday morning.

Diana entered the suite the groomswomen were to get ready in. There was much chattering, along with music playing in the background. She smiled as she took in the surroundings. There were dressing tables set up along two of the walls. Along another wall was a table with soft drinks, juice, wine and champagne, along with artisan cheese and cracker trays, and some other snacks. All the women were already there, having been picked up, along with any spouses who were in the wedding party, by a super stretch Hummer-sine. There were boughs of flowers hanging across the ceiling. The feeling was definitely that of an impending wedding.

Most of the women were sitting down at a table, getting prepared for when their gowns would arrive. They all had already changed into the silk robes that said "Groomswoman" and the date, with the L-M logo on the front, and 'Dee & Ryo' under the initials.

For someone who bucked when he felt he was cornered and being forced into something, once Ryo made sure Dee knew he was in control of his wedding planning, Dee easily decided to go all out for their wedding, with Ryo happily agreeing.

The groomswomen felt pampered from the start, having their fittings in private appointments, one on one with the boutique owner and her staff. Even if it was Diana's idea, the spa day the weekend before was a delightful treat for everyone. Several times since the week before, they had been transported in limo or party buses.

They were told to bring whatever personal toiletries they wanted to have with them on the wedding day, but nothing more was needed. When they arrived at the atrium, first they were taken for a quick tour of the facilities, getting to see the venue in completion for the wedding. With wide eyes and bright smiles, they took in all the details, from the carpet runner on the sidewalk, to the torii gate between the flower draped canopy where the alter was set up and the glass walls with the city skyline looking north beyond. The entrance from the elevator to the main area of the atrium drew pleased gasps and much oohing and ahhing from the wedding party.

After seeing the atrium in all its splendor for the wedding, they were escorted back into the elevator and down to one of the middle floors of the building. There they were shown the suite they were to use to prepare for the event. It was a large spacious room, with two smaller rooms. One room was designated where their gowns would be, as well as a place to hang up their coats and stow any belongings they did not feel like leaving laying around the room once they left for the wedding. The other room was set up for photos, once the ladies were dressed. Upon their arrival to the suite, they found tote bags waiting for them. Inside the bags were the robes, along with tee-shirts and some bath salts for later when they returned from the celebrations. Like the robes, the tee-shirts had the word "Groomswoman" on the back with the date, and the L-M logo with the grooms' names on the front. All the robes were a pastel blue, but the shirts matched the color of the gown each woman was to wear.

"Attention ladies," Diana called up cheerfully.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to Diana, some waving in greeting.

"The moment you've been waiting for is upon you. Your gowns have arrived and are on their way up. Your flowers should be arriving just before you have to head upstairs to line up."

Applause and laughter followed. Diana then went around the room to personally assure each woman's needs were addressed. There was not much more the groomswomen needed. They were all in wonderful spirits, feeling pampered almost as if they were brides themselves that day. Which was Ryo and Dee's ulterior motives, since there was no bride on that day. So all the special attention lavished on a bride on her wedding day was given to each and every lady in their wedding party.

"Does anyone know if Dee and Ryo got here yet?" Janet asked.

"Dee should be arriving soon," Julie stated. "Barry called from the limo not too long ago saying that him and Dee were on their way."

"How's he doing?" Diana asked Julie. "Dee, that is."

"A bundle of nerves and as excited as Barry's ever seen him," Julie giggled.

Janice laughed. "I'll tell you, Ryo brings out so many things in Dee that I never imagined coming from that hard ass."

Julie snorted. "Hard ass, my ass. Dee was just waiting for the right person to bring his inner marshmallow to the surface."

Diana broke out in laughter. "Inner marshmallow? Ohmigod, that's a good one!"

"I hope so. Because Barry is intending to use that one in his best man's speech tonight," Julie chuckled.

"Oh, now I'm really looking forward to the speeches," Janet said with a laugh.

Diana looked over to Jocelyn, Ryo's cousin on his dad's side, who was asked to be included in the wedding party. "So, tell us about your cousin. Do you think he also has an inner marshmallow?"

Not only Jocelyn, but Ryo's Japanese cousin who was also in the wedding party laughed. "Ryo pretends like he's a rock. You know, that he doesn't need anyone. Until Dee. So I guess you can say that Ryo has inner marshlands." She winked at Diana, while all the other women burst out in laughter at the joke. "Seriously, I met Dee a few times before. Sometimes I'd be with Elena when Ryo and Dee would join us for lunch or something. That was when they were pretending to be just best friends. It didn't surprise me when I found out. It was there for anyone to see, if they wanted to really look at the two. And I remember the first time I realized it, that I hoped I was right and that they would stay together. Ryo was different with Dee. A good different. And I could see Dee worshipped the ground Ryo walked on. My cousin needed that. But now I can see the worshipping goes both ways." She smiled.

There was a knock at the door. The room fell quiet, except for excited giggles as all eyes followed Diana to open the door, and allow Lady Chantrel, along with several of her female assistants to enter. With them was a luggage rack, loaded down with gowns and the outer jackets to keep them warm going between wedding events or should they decide to go out on a balcony or terrace for some fresh air.

After the greetings, Lady Chantrel looked at the groomswoman. "Well ladies? What is everyone sitting around for? We have a wedding to get dressed for."

A controlled, excited chaos followed as the women went into the smaller room to get their garments and get dressed with a little help from Lady Chantrel's assistants.

Diana gazed at her gown as it was taken out of the protective covering. The model for the garment was in white and could easily be a wedding gown. Dee and Ryo wanted her in dark blue, and ordered the gown to be in that color. It was still a lovely and elegant gown that had a slight trail behind it, and a pleated shirt in the back. The bodice plunged low in the front. It had silver thread creating a delicate design of tiny vines and laced with silver laces in the back. It had capped sleeves at the shoulders. The look of the gown was vaguely Renaissance. Because of that, instead of the jacket selected for the groomswomen, Lady Chantrel had suggested to Ryo and Dee to order a long cape of satin, lined on the inside, with the same delicate silver threads running through it. The cape had a faux-fur trimmed hood. Diana had to admit at the final fitting, that even she, a woman of wealth, raised as a pampered child, felt like a princess in her outfit. She could not wait until Berkeley finally saw her in her wedding outfit. Perhaps, it might help him to make more of a commitment to her. Then one day, she would be picking out a white gown to wear on her own wedding day.

She shook her head. She was not going to dwell on maybes that day. However, she remembered Dee back when she first met them and all his maybes that he lived day to day with. That was in the past. This fine and magical wedding was for Dee to finally marry his beloved Ryo, almost 3 years after they officially became a couple. If nothing else, other than to share in the joy of her friends getting married, this wedding would serve as a reminder to her that if one stays persistent and true on the path, dreams can come true. Dee's did.

Ryo was very aware of that fact, which is why he was all for their wedding having a fairy tale quality to it. Diana was glad to see that he succeeded. This wedding was going to be grand. It would echo of princes finding soulmates in each other and happy endings. It would be elegant and lavish, and even a bit over the top in a royalty type of way.

'Not bad for a so-called street rat,' Diana reflected, thinking of Dee's sometime insecurity of his background. Yes, he grew up in the streets of a bad neighborhood in New York City, and along with his friends found some wayward ways in their teens. But Dee had Jess to keep him from going over too far on the other side. And he had Mother, who managed to instill some class and culture in him, even if it took him until recently to realized he had it all along.

Diana graciously accepted the help from one of the assistants in putting on her gown and getting prepared for a wedding that she could only hope she could top should her chance ever come.

Several limos and taxis pulled up to an offloading zone, where as guests disembarked from the vehicles, they found themselves at the start of a shimmering blue runner leading to the entrance of the building, then going through the doors, and into the lobby. Just before the door, were the initials 'L-M' in the same font as the wrapping paper. Like a logo, whenever Ryo and Dee's initials were used for the wedding, it was of the same font.

Those arriving with their own vehicles were directed to the corner, where they turned their cars over to the valet parking attendants, who would park the vehicles in the nearby garage designated for use for the wedding. Those guests were also directed to the runner. Overhead was a blue and silver canopy to protect the runner and guests from the falling snow.

Guests who were friends of Ryo's family were slightly amazed. They had heard Estelle brag about how her oldest grandson's wedding was going to be the wedding of the century. They had also heard about the background of the man Randy MacLean was to marry. The majority of those who had not previously met Dee, and even a few who did, expected a little flash, but otherwise while beautiful, it would be a simple style wedding.

The guests had no choice but to feel the atmosphere of a major event upon arrival. It closely resembled a Hollywood premiere, and they knew they did not yet make it up to the atrium where the ceremony was to be held.

The express elevator was handled by a man in a tuxedo. Ryo's great aunts and uncles, along with a few cousins from Ryo's generation, entered the elevator to find it was decorated in blue and white lights. Also sharing the elevator were some of those from the 27th precinct. They looked more impressed about the elevator than the MacLeans were.

"Geez, where does Laytner and MacLean get off pulling something this fancy on detective's pay?" one of the cops asked. He was currently dressed in a neatly pressed dark blue suit.

"Ryo's family is paying for this wedding, Angelo," Ferguson replied. "From what I hear, Ryo and Dee are not spending a cent of their own money." He eyed the woman hanging on Angelo's arm. She was dressed in a dazzling cocktail dress, with accessories to match. He had to wonder if his fellow officer had gone broke as his wife took advantage of the occasion to dress up as well as she was.

"Ah, so MacLean is the bride," another cop snickered.

"Dee's the pregnant one," Hernandez pointed out.

"Semantics," Angelo remarked. "A minor transgression in the natural order of things, because MacLean can be such a priss. Don't get me wrong. I like the guy immensely, and I'd back him up in a heartbeat because he's a kick ass detective. But he's… softer than Laytner's hard ass."

A snort came from one of the other very well dressed older women in the elevator. The cops were aware of eyes on them from all the other passengers who were not their spouses or dates, all of them equally well dressed as the woman.

"The MacLeans take care of our own," the woman stated haughtily. "The wedding trust fun is for everyone in our family, be it the bride or the groom." She managed to look down her nose at the cops while she spoke, despite her being shorter.

One of the men chuckled. "This is a rare wedding, because I hear the family of the other groom has contacted Franklin and Estelle to discuss paying in part for this wedding.

"The what?" Angelo asked, looking confused. "Laytner's an orphan."

"Legally he's adopted," a younger woman explained. "While Sister Lane spent her inheritance on running the orphanage Dee was raised in, her family in Ireland is still one of means. Apparently they accept Dee as the Sister's son, and thus that makes him a Lane. Which means Dee also comes from a refined, well to do family, despite his upbringings in that horrid neighborhood. And his family wants to pay in part for this wedding. Technically that would mean both gentlemen's families are paying for it."

An elderly woman in fur and diamonds had started to gape as the man started to speak. Her look grew more horrified as the discussion went on during the elevator's slow ascent up to the 47th floor.

"Dear Aunt Harriet, what is wrong?" the younger woman asked.

"The other groom?" Harriet gasped, taking out a lacy silk hankie to pat her face. "But I thought Dee was a woman!"

The other MacLeans rolled their eyes or chuckled at the senior woman's outburst of indignation.

"No ma'am," Ferguson replied with a smirk. "Dee Laytner is one of the best men we have at the 27th precinct."

"Randy is marrying a…a…man?!" Harriet exclaimed.

Heads nodded all around.

"Oh dear," one of the MacLean men remarked. "Eunice, please take out your grandmother's smelling salts. I do believe she's about to have another episode." The elderly woman was prone to conveniently forgetting things she did not like, and then go off into a tirade as if she was hearing facts for the first time.

Eunice, the young woman, searched in her sequined handbag that matched her designer gown. "Franklin says it is Randy's choice," she said while digging out the smelling salt. "Both Franklin and Estelle are convinced this is not just a 'thing'. Randy loves Dee. Dee loves Randy. And they are having a baby together. Franklin and Estelle have given them both their blessings."

"But homosexuals and Carriers do not belong in the MacLeans!!" Harriet exploded, leaning against the glass wall of the elevator.

The man who spoke to Eunice took the smelling salt bottle from her to open and hold under the elder woman's nose.

"Apparently, they do now, Aunt Harriet," another of the younger woman said. "In fact, I hear Randy is also a Carrier."

"From his mother's side, no doubt," Harriet huffed. "Randy is his father's son. First Frankie brought that wretched Oriental hussy into our family, and now Randy is introducing new deviants. Our blood is growing thin, I fear." She pushed the hand holding the smelling salt away. "I'm fine now. Thank you, Wilbert."

"You can always go back down and go home," Wilbert remarked, capping the bottle. He handed it back to Eunice. He smirked at Harriet. "And that's what you get for going traipsing off with your 30-year old gold digging stud rather than attending Randy's engagement party."

"If you met him, you might be less prone to forgetting Dee is a man," one of the older woman scoffed, glaring at Harriet.

"A very fine man at that," one of the younger women added. "Quite a looker too."

"It was bad enough knowing Randy's intended was some ghetto whore. I did not want to watch Franklin break down and sanctify such trash into our family. And Carlo and I are just friends. I am merely his benefactor. And while I was dragged this far, I might as well see what Randy has wasted our family money on," Harriet explained.

"Whatever," one of the other younger women mumbled.

The cops all silently shared a look.

Most of the faces had looks of gratitude as the elevator finally came to a stop and the door opened to reveal the entrance to the ceremony venue.

As guests left the elevator, they encountered the blue carpet again as it went through what appeared to be a long tent. The structure itself was white silk. Strips of lighted blue netting hung and crisscrossed in intervals down the entrance. Patterns of dragonflies and decorative scrolls from the wedding theme were lighted in the pastel wedding colors along the white silk. Lining each side of the entrance were silver and blue tables with mirrored tops well spaced. On the tables were long arrangements of flowers set in high blue and white lighted glass planters, and candles set in long tall blue and white candle holders. Between the tables were white branches with white lights and cherry blossom trees.

At the end of the entrance was a reception area where a string quartet took turns with a dulcimer player, providing beautiful music for the guests. A coat check was off to the side and in a corner was an ice sculpture bar serving champagne, wine and juice for the guests. Trays of cheeses and artisan bread were on a table next to it, as well as cut fruit skewed on fancy sticks.

"Whoa!" Angelo exclaimed, coming to a complete stop. He stared down the entrance, as others who arrived earlier mingled with glasses in hand, eating cheese, bread and fruit. Most of them were admiring the décor, taking pictures and catching up with relatives and acquaintances.

Ryo's Japanese family stood out among the glitz of designer gowns and diamonds in kimonos of rich colors in fabrics with shiny threads and beading, beaded and jeweled accessories, and sparkling hairpieces in their hair. Some of the women had fur scarves around their necks, or trimming the sleeves of their kimonos. The men wore fine, expensive cut suits.

Some of the MacLean men wore formal kilts in the MacLean plaid. There were some women in gowns of rich material and trimmed in beaded Celtic designs.

Angelo's wife turned to him with wide eyes, and pouted. "I wish we had something like this for our wedding."

"Sure. We'd have only needed to wait ten years and spend nothing of my salary to afford this," Angelo stated.

"Holy crap!" Hernandez muttered, pushing Angelo to start moving.

"It's like a winter wonderland with the first traces of spring!" Eunice exclaimed gleefully.

"This is just absolutely gorgeous," one of the older MacLean women stated, appreciative eyes taking in all the details as they walked down along the entrance.

"Gorgeous?" another of Ryo's great aunts asked. "I would say this is breathtaking. Estelle should be very proud, because this is indeed the most beautiful wedding our family has had."

"And this is just the foyer," Eunice remarked. "It's so… magical!"

"Indeed," Wilbert agreed. "For the time they had to put it together, this is just amazing."

"I imagine having all that money would help," Hernandez snorted.

"This has to be Ryo's doing," Ferguson said. "I don't think Dee has it in him to decide on stuff like this."

"I heard Adams was helping them," Angelo said and laughed.

"Oh, now it makes sense," Hernandez replied and laughed with Angelo.

Eunice giggled as she looked at the cops. "Oh, but Dee said he had plenty to do with planning this wedding. Dee said so at their engagement party."

A woman dressed in a chic pants suit, wearing an earpiece and a PDA attached to her belt, approached the group as they talked. "Dee drew up the concepts of what him and Ryo had envisioned, and I found the people to make it happen." She winked at Hernandez. "And yes, what they were willing to pay to have it all by today helped finding vendors." She smiled at the group before her. I'm Sharon, the wedding coordinator for this fine event. If you have any questions or needs, you will notice gentlemen with badges who will assist you. Please enjoy a light snack before the ceremony." She appeared to be listening to something. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Sharon went rushing off through the entrance and disappeared into what was assumed where the ceremony was to be held.

"Look," Eunice said. "There's Estelle and Franklin." She smiled at the cops. "Randy's grandparents."

"My, does Estelle look radiant today," a great aunt observed as the MacLean matriarchs approached the group.

"Good afternoon everyone," Franklin greeted, Estelle on his arm. His gaze included the cops as well as his own family.

"Is this not the most lovely wedding you've ever seen?" Estelle gushed.

"It is, indeed Estelle," one of the great aunts replied. "And you are looking as lovely as our fine surroundings."

"It's a wedding fitting for a MacLean," Wilbert said.

"Why thank you, all of you," Estelle smiled brightly. "But this is not about me today. Randy is getting married today and this is going to be the wedding to bypass all MacLean weddings, past and future."

Harriet snorted. "Estelle, you should be ashamed of yourself. All our money spend on such trash as a homosexual wedding!" she snapped. "This is just appalling! And definitely of worthy for some faggot street trash that your grandson has the audacity to think he wants to marry. And not just any trash, but a Carrier at that! This is disgraceful!"

Estelle lost her smile and glared at Harriet. "Randy knows he wants to spend his life with Dee, and after getting to know Dee, we know he is good for our grandson. And this…" she flicked her hand around to indicate the décor, "is a celebration of the beauty of their love. Quite frankly, I think as wonderful as it is, it still is pale comparing to their love. Isn't that right, Franklin."

Franklin nodded. "Harriet, I'm sure no one will miss you if you want to leave."

"I want this foolishness to come to an end. Right now. I insist that this wedding does not go on, or the name MacLean will be tarnished forever!"

"Oh my," one of Ryo's great uncles sighed, rolling his eyes. "She did exactly the same thing at Frankie's wedding, didn't she?"

A long, well manicured hand tapped Harriet on her shoulder. "Excuse me, you female grunt, but I suggest you watch how you be talking about a Lane," came a woman's voice with a thick Irish accent.

The group looked to find the owner of the hand being one of the older women with Celtic trimming. She wore an emerald green gown with gold trimming and a beaded design of Celtic knotwork along the trimming. Behind her stood several others, all glaring at Harriet.

"We came all the way from Ireland to wish Dee our blessings on his wedding day. And I will not have some frumpy tart trying to play dress up dare to spoil it for him," the woman stated, glaring daggers as she spoke.

"If you have a problem with this wedding, then leave. We don't want your kind spreading negativity here," a younger woman exclaimed, also with an Irish accent.

"And you are?" Harriet demanded.

"May I introduce everyone?" Franklin said. "This is Clarisse Lane-McGinessey, Mother Maria's 1st cousin, and her granddaughter Siobhan McGinessey. The others are other relations from the Lane family from Ireland."

"That so-called trash happens to be one of ours. A Lane. And every bit deserving to marry Ryo," Siobhan said. "So shut your wrinkled yap and deal with it, or I'll personally see that your arse hits the sidewalk on the way out."

"Siobhan," Clarisse warned.

"No Grams. She insulted Dee and she insulted our family. I don't know who she thinks she is…"

"I should be the head of this family! That's who I am. And if I had my rightful place in this family, we would not be standing here, discussing such a ludicrous idea of celebrating a couple of faggots who believe they are in love. I would not allow such a freak of nature to dare come close to our family. Randy would have been asked to leave the family, if I had my way."

"But you don't, Harriet. And I don't know where you get your delusions from," Franklin remarked. "Your rightful place in this family is exactly where you are. Great grandfather's 5th daughter and last child. If only great grandmother was still alive to confirm that you really are the result of affair with the pool boy."

Harriet looked affronted as the other MacLean laughed at the family rumor.

Siobhan snorted. "No doubt the old woman is the family buffoon."

"Why, I never…!" Harriet gasped. "This entire family will be buffoons if Randy marries that alleyway Spic! I mean really," she snorted. "Not even his parents wanted him and threw him where he belonged – with the trash. Which is where all Carriers should go!"

"She remembered that quite well, I notice," Wilbert groaned.

Siobhan dropped her handbag and went right for Harriet. "Listen you over bloated tart," she screeched, grabbing the older woman's shoulders and shaking her. "You have some nerve thinking you're all that high and almighty."

"Holy shit!" Ferguson exclaimed, instinctively jumping back, out of the way of the volatile women.

"Maybe we should do something?" Angelo asked. "I mean, we are cops."

"Hey, watch what you have to say about Spics, you Tammy Faye wanna be!" Hernandez shouted, taking a step up to the two women.

"Oh dear," Franklin sighed, looking around and seeing security coming over to break up the brawl.

"Harriet, you will not do this on Randy's wedding day!" Estelle screamed.

There was a crowd surrounding the group, members of families glaring at other the families. At the moment the atmosphere grew icy. The majority of the MacLeans and Aokis had been feuding since Ryo's parents were married. The Lanes were yet unknown to most of both families. Some of the older MacLeans associated Dee's poor ghetto background to the Lanes. The Lanes were aware of how some of Ryo's family viewed Dee, and thus them. They did not know of the summers Dee spent with Clarisse at her estate in Ireland, playing with Siobhan and other Lane children among the acres of land the family owned.

In an attempt to drag Harriet to the elevator, the women fell into a fight which came dangerously close to a table. Harriet hit into it and the flower display went tumbling down, the glass planter shattering when it hit the ground. A candle fell over, landing in the planter for the white branches and cherry blossom tree.

"Shit!" Angelo cried out, jumping to pull the candle from the tree. One of the security guards went behind the display to pull the plug on the lights on the white branches when they shorted out with a sizzle.

Akira Aoki managed to step out from the encircling crowd before security and came up to the woman, looking like an empress in her kimono especially made to wear for her grandson's wedding. "Stop!" she said, her voice level, but the deadly ice in her tone made everyone pause. "Both of you will not dare do anything to ruin this day for Ryo and Dei."

Siobhan released Harriet, and took a step back, still glaring at her. "You are lucky, woman. But should I ever encounter you after this wedding, no one will be able to stop me."

Sharon pushed her way through the crowd, behind security who surrounded the three woman, rapidly speaking into her mouthpiece about damage.

From behind them, coming up from the elevator were members of the church the orphanage was affiliated with, and had watched Dee grow up. Some of them had known him since a toddler. No one was dressed shabby, but it appeared as if they were among the sea of fine gowns, suits and tuxedos. They were escorted around the group by hosts, encouraging newcomers not to linger, in hopes of defusing a potentially worse situation. The job of the hosts were also to keep the flow of arriving guests not to block the way for others. The already assembled group already made it difficult to keep the flow going. The sooner the group of tense relatives were disbursed, the better security felt. The new arrivals were shown the champagne bar, offered snacks and were encouraged to sign the guest registry.

"Would you like to have them removed, Mr. MacLean," a guard asked Franklin.

Franklin studied the two women, before his eyes shifted to Clarisse and finally settled on Estelle.

"Just that goat in mink lining," Estelle replied for Franklin. "Siobhan was only defending both Dee and Randy. Meanwhile Harriet was attacking her own – not only Randy, but Dee. Because Dee is now also a MacLean."

Siobhan turned grateful eyes to Estelle. "You do realize that Ryo is also a Lane as of today."

"Indeed. I'm am glad to hear that," Estelle stated with a warm smile. She had gotten to know Clarisse in the last couple of weeks when both women discussed over the phone the Lanes financial contribution to the wedding.

"And Aokis," Obasan stated. "The two of them. And if anyone dares to say anything about the man carrying my daughter's grandchild, they will have to deal with me."

"Of course, Akira-san," Franklin replied with a smile. "Indeed our boys are very well protected."

At that moment, it seemed as a result of the heads of the three families showing their unity, the frost from the other family members were gone. Whatever caused the rift between families at Ryo's parents' wedding was not to be repeated that day. They all had learned from wisdom and tragedy since.

Except for one very elderly woman.

"You would not dare expel me from here," Harriet shrilled.

"It is done, Harriet. Thank you for dropping off your lovely present to our happy couple in advance," Franklin said. "Someone do remind me to let them know they might want to burn it to ward off your evil."

Snickers came from all around them, from all three families.

"I swear, Franklin, that this is the beginning of the division of the MacLeans. Faggots and freaks in our family indeed. You'll be hearing from me again!" She started to turn, slapping the hands of the security guard. "Take your hands off me, you big brute. I'm just an old lady, not a street criminal like Randy's trash."

"Harriet!" Estelle warned. "If you say one more thing like that about Dee, I will hold you while I let his family have a go at you. And judging from the look on Aoki-san's face, her family will join in. Now please leave."

Harriet huffed. "Come along, Wilbert, Eunice. We're not wanted here."

"Actually, Grandma, you're not wanted," Eunice remarked. "I want to stay. I've been counting down the days since the engagement party for this day and I'm not leaving."

"You should know where your money comes from, Eunice. Your parents would be appalled at you."

"My parents are living in Europe to get away from you, Grandma. Which is starting to sound like a good idea to me. I'm sure I can do just as well in Paris with my business as here."

Estelle patted Eunice's shoulder. "Your parents have no worries of being cut off, my dear. And neither do you."

"Wilbert!"

"Sorry, Aunt Harriet. I have money on what our grooms are wearing, and I want to see for myself," Wilbert stated.

Franklin rolled his eyes. "Betting on my grandsons' wedding attire…" He shook his head. "Please take her away now."

"You may use the limo," Wilbert stated as Harriet was escorted to the elevator. "Eunice and I can take a taxi after all the festivities."

A man standing by one of the unused elevators used a passkey to open it. Harriet's departure was not to interrupt the flow of arriving guests.

"This was much worse than Frankie's wedding, I'm afraid," Franklin sighed.

"That woman gets more delusional as she gets older," Estelle replied. She glanced around at everyone gathered. "Well? Nothing more to look at here. And this was not as exciting as the wedding will be. So please, help yourself to some refreshments, and don't forget to go inside early enough to sign the guest registry."

Estelle walked over to Akira, drawing her toward Clarisse. "I am so sorry you had to fly in from Japan and Ireland to hear such nonsense," she apologized to both women, looking embarrassed. "If anyone is a disgrace to our fine family's name, it's her."

"I feared for a moment a fire would break out," Clarisse said. "I'm just glad it is over with minimal damage. I do hope Dee does not notice it or I fear he'll be throwing fits for sure."

The three elder women of their families all looked over to the table and to their surprise, there was a new arrangement set out, the glass all cleaned up, and two men were putting in a new tree of white branches and lights, while another carried off the one with the shorted lights.

"Damn, but is she good," Estelle muttered. "I will most definitely have to refer others to her for weddings."

"They did pick a fine woman to handle the details, did they not?" Clarisse asked, putting her arm around Siobhan. "Why don't we all go get something to drink. The damage is gone. I believe it is a sign to let go of the incident and concentrate on the joy of this glorious day."

"Is the clergy here yet?" Siobhan asked.

"Mother Maria is down in the women's suite with Elena getting dressed for her son's wedding day," Estelle stated with a soft smile.

"I meant the officiate who will be performing the ceremony. Has she or any of her group arrived yet?" Siobhan clarified.

"I don't think so," Franklin replied.

"No sweetheart," Clarisse started.

"No, Grams. There are bad energies from that woman and it needs to be cleansed." She moved from her grandmother to pick up her bag that was forgotten until that moment and started to go through it. "I'm glad I always carry a small sage wand."

Clarisse chuckled. "All right, dear. You do what you must. Just don't let Maria catch you."

"You know very well that Maria's choice to become a nun went against the family beliefs. Last I checked, we still respect each other's beliefs. So it won't be a huge shock to her. She is, after all, completely aware of the form of ceremony Dee and Ryo have chosen," Siobhan stated.

"Still, darling. Don't draw another crowd. We had enough of them, until later when we get to swarm the newlyweds."

"I'll catch up with you later, Grams."

"Franklin will join you for refreshments, but I have something to attend to, along with Randy's other grandmother. So if you will excuse us," Estelle said.

"Be gentle on the dear boy," Franklin chuckled.

"Don't worry about Dee," Estelle replied with a wink. "So what if the boy lets out a few tears. I'm sure he's full of them already, so full of joy that today is here."

Franklin smiled at his wife. As his wife walked away with Akira, he escorted Clarisse Lane, along with the members of his family and guests from the 27th precinct to the refreshment bar. At the bar, he greeted those from the church Dee grew up in.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Barry stepped into the suite, his eyes on all the men standing around the refreshment table, enjoying the offer of selections.

"How's it going all?" he asked, approaching the group of men.

All talk stopped and the men greeted him. He could not miss the sense of something off in the way they greeted him. As he scanned the group, he noticed not all the groomsmen were there.

"Hey, anyone know where Drake and JJ are?" he asked.

Ted sighed. "At a scene, last I heard."

"A scene?" Barry asked.

"Yeah. Crime scene."

Barry's eyes went wide. "What the fuck are they being called out to a crime scene today for?" he exploded. "What are they going to do next? Call Ryo out to one?"

Marty came over to Barry. "Chill, dude. We're hoping they'll make it in time to get changed. Chief Smith and Commissioner Rose are out there with them."

Barry slapped his forehead. "Oh Christ. When Dee hears this… I better go find a paperbag for when he starts to hyperventilate on me."

"Don't you mean blow up?" Adriano asked, amused.

Barry rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that'll happen at some point today, but right now it's vapors and all that weird stuff."

Pedro laughed. "I'm pretty sure just marrying Ryo would bring Dee to tears of happiness and stuff like that. But with that baby in there, I'm sure his hormones are playing all sorts of havoc on the poor guy."

"I know, I know. Which is why I need to be patient with him. Give him a shoulder if he wants to weep and give him some crystal glassware to throw when he wants to have a fit," Barry said with a wink. "First there was this morning. I heard he was near tears and beside himself worrying that New York would be buried under 10 feet of snow or something by this afternoon."

"Therefore totally immobilizing the city," Ted added with a chuckle.

Barry nodded. "Yup. Therefore, no wedding. Mother and her family had a task ahead of them convincing Dee a couple of inches of light snow was not going to bring the wedding to a halt, and that perhaps even some snowflakes coming down in the background during the wedding just might add to the magic of the setting."

Marty groaned. "Anyone want to bet that last part finally got to him?"

Barry held his hands up. "I don't make stupid bets." He looked around again. "Okay… we can do this minus two. Thank goodness the two missing are paired up. But still, Dee and Ryo asked each of you to be part of this because you're all the ones they felt they wanted to have a special role in this day. Meaning they want JJ and Drake here."

"Meaning Dee's going to go off the deep end when he finds out," Tsubasa summed up, managing to look concerned and amused at the same time.

Barry nodded. "Exactly. Alrighty, here's the deal. We're not going to say one word to Dee or Ryo, because I don't think Ryo will just shrug it off with an 'oh well'. Hopefully they'll get here in time and no one will be any the wiser until later tonight, or maybe even after they get back from their honeymoon."

"What if they don't?" Jim asked. "And what is going on that they get called in on not just any day off, but one they specially requested to have off?"

"I'm going to go find Sharon and let her know that it's possible we will be operating with minus two in the wedding party," Barry replied. He looked over to Ted and Marty, hoping they could answer Jim's second question.

"What do you think they would drag Drake and JJ out early in the morning on a requested leave day for?" Ted asked the forensic specialist.

"Oh God," Jim uttered. "Please tell me I'm wrong."

"No," Marty stated. "And not just one. They were just about to pack things up over at Flushing Meadow and head on over here, when they got called to yet another scene. Seems our perp has been holding out on bodies until the middle of the night."

Barry gave Marty a double take. "Two of them?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"Yeah."

"Where was the other one discovered?" Jim asked Marty.

"South Cove, over in Battery Park City." Marty replied.

Barry's eyes went wide, and there were several gasps heard from the non-police locals.

"Oh God," Pedro whispered."

"Let's be thankful it wasn't the South Street Seaport, or it would be hard to miss all the police activity driving in," Barry said. "Not that any body should have been found."

"On the plus side, that does mean Drake and JJ are not too far from here, so they stand a good chance of making it over here in time," Ted remarked.

"Okay. When Marcel arrives with the suits, everyone start getting ready," Barry said. "Meanwhile, I'll go speak to Sharon, just in case. Maybe grab one of the family elders, if I see someone and let them know too. If anyone hears from them, text me. Got it?"

"Sure," Ted replied.

"If they're going to be late, but not too late, we might be able to hold things over until they arrive and get changed. Depending on how late that is," Barry added.

"Gotcha Barry," Marty nodded. "We'll keep you updated through text. Now go and help out Dee."

Barry chuckled. "Actually there was a nice chaise lounge chair in Dee's suite. I made him lay down until it's time for him to be getting dressed."

Chuckles went around the room.

"And on that note, I'm off. I'll be seeing everyone upstairs at line up. Oh, by the way, what does everyone think of upstairs?"

"Awesome!" Pedro exclaimed.

"Absolutely glorious!" Adriano added.

"Fuckin' amazing," Ted said. Everyone nodded their heads in total agreement.

"I especially like the bridge just like in Rayna-san's wedding photos," Tsubasa stated.

"Dee saw it all already, I take it," Jim said with a smirk.

"Dude, Dee dragged me into the elevator wanting to see what it looked like today. I'm so glad there was someone with a camera taking photos, because they caught Dee's reaction," Barry chuckled. "It turned out way better than he was expecting."

"Aw, that's great," Pedro said with a soft smile. "Good for Dee. He deserves it. He deserves everything that is included with this wedding."

Barry nodded. "That he does. And I'm glad he's getting it. Later dudes!"

The others called out to Barry as he left, hurrying to find Sharon, before going back to Dee.

# # # # # # #

By the time Barry returned to the suite to check on Dee, he was ready for a good stiff drink, or five. He had found Sharon, only to find the woman was already working on a problem she had just found out about minutes before Barry arrived. The hansom cab that was to transport Ryo and Dee from the building the ceremony was held in to Bridgewaters had a minor accident on the way through Manhattan in the snow. The horses were fine, but it was decided to stable them and send out a new team. Assuming they could repair the broken back axle in time to have the horse drawn carriage waiting as the newlywed couple emerged from the building.

It had taken more than half a day to decorate that particular hansom cab to be used as the newlywed "getaway" vehicle. After the reception, it was to take the happy couple to the location of the after-party, where they were to spend an hour, before getting back in and whisked away uptown to the St. Pierre Hotel, where they were to spend their wedding night.

Sharon was looking into the possibility of getting another hansom cab in service, even if minimally decorated, but she was not sure she could get one to be used for the rest of the night last minute. There were no limousines to be hired for that long so last minute. She had an assistant on the phone calling classic car rentals, asking what they had available for the day, while she had called to sent out a few others to comb the city, in search of another horse drawn carriage they could use. Somehow, someway, there was going to be a vehicle worthy of the wedding waiting for Dee and Ryo. Sharon just did not know what by the time Barry had left her, along with Ryo's grandparents, who had authorized whatever it would cost to make it happen. Estelle's exact words, Barry was told was, "I don't care how much it will cost! Pay someone more than they would make in a year! I'm certain that will make someone jump to and get a worthy vehicle over here!"

Money talks, Barry knew. In his construction business he met often with men and women of money who hoped to make more. He was often called upon as the man with the means to make that happen in the case of real estate developers. Many times they would look for the cheapest bidder, but they expected quality work. There were times when they would flash money before his face to make the impossible happen. Because of those times, he was not worried about providing for his family, nice and secure financially, with more opportunity before him. He had risen above the streets him and Dee had grew up in. His wedding to Julie was low key and simple. The total cost of their wedding was under 2000. By their fifth anniversary, things had changed for them. They had renewed their vows, in a wedding that Barry had wished he could have given Julie the first time. At least she was happy, with no regrets, and so was he.

Dee's wedding was ten times more grand than his own. He could not find it in himself to be jealous. He was extremely glad that Dee was given this chance. After all, a little over five years before, the thought of Dee ever getting married was laughable. His childhood friend had no intention of settling down with one person for the rest of his life. He would say that would mean he would have to finally choose a side, and he enjoyed the duel benefits of being bisexual too much to give up one of the sexes in favor for another. A little over three years before, Dee found himself not having sex with female or male. No one. He was holding out for Ryo, but it was wearing him down. He was almost starting to believe that Ryo could never love him back, but even that would not stop him from loving Ryo, from waiting for him.

Barry smiled. In a few short hours, Dee Laytner was getting married to the love of his life, Ryo MacLean. And in a few months after that, he was going to give birth to their baby. Dee loved Ryo more than just to wait a lifetime for him. Dee was willing to have their baby. Most amazing of all to Barry, Dee had been willing to place himself in the position for the baby to be conceived in the first place.

For that alone, Barry felt Dee and Ryo deserved a wedding on the scale that this wedding was planned to be.

It was time for Dee Lane Laytner to realize that he, too, had risen above the streets they grew up in.

A/N – Getting to edit the chapters isn't as easy as I'm hoping. Then when they get edited, they are sent off to beta. As quick as Dawn is most times, in the upcoming weeks, I might not have the time to update on the day I get the chapters back, and after I make changes to the Word document. Meanwhile I'm trying to get them out quicker – as you noticed it's already over a week since my last update. So I'm updating this chapter minutes after it was sent off for beta. It will be updated again with the beta version as quickly as I can after getting it back, but that might be when I update the new chapter after sending it off to beta. I'll be doing that at least until after the wedding chapters, if not for the rest of The Unexpected II.

This chapter doesn't really have Dee and Ryo in it. I wanted to have the wedding viewed from different viewpoints, and since there is quick a variety of different walks of life among the guests, I left the POV be from selected characters. While Dee and Ryo will have active parts in the next few chapters, there will also be scenes when viewed by one of the guests, to continue getting the different POVs out.

While I already have a name picked out for the Chibi, I am curious to know what some of you might have picked for a name, so if you like, share your thoughts on it. Let's see by somewhere in TUIII how close you might have gotten to the baby's name.

Thanks to those who reviewed! Hope you enjoy this and the upcoming chapters.


	21. Prelude To A Wedding

"Dee, calm down," Barry instructed his friend who went to run his hand through his hair and barely managed to stop himself jus

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"How are you doing, Mother Maria?" Elena called out.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," came the reply from the other room. "Are you sure it isn't too much?"

Elena smiled warmly. "I didn't think so when you picked it out."

"I do not know what possessed me," Mother replied with a heavy sigh. She stepped out of the room wearing a long ankle length gown in navy blue. The cut of the gown was simple but in a classic sense. It had a high modest neckline, and sleeves to her elbows. "I cannot remember the last time I went shopping for clothes."

"For yourself," Elena remarked with a smile. They had this conversation while Mother went to Lady Chantrel to try on dresses. Whenever money allowed, Mother would buys some clothing and toys for the children. The during the first visit to the boutique, the nun gushed on about how much she enjoyed it when Dee and Ryo were along, although she worried when they would add some of their own money to the shopping sprees.

It was the elderly nun who had called her, asking for assistance in buying a gown to wear for her son's wedding. During the phone call, Elena asked her why a gown instead of her habit, which was what Dee was expecting her to wear. Mother's reply was that for one day, she wanted to just be Dee's mom as she walked him down the aisle on his wedding day. She had asked Elena to keep it their secret between them and Lady Chantrel.

As far as Elena was concerned, once the boutique owner heard the nun wanted a dress to wear for the wedding, she had a nice selection of outfits that Mother would feel comfortable in. What impressed Elena the most about Lady Chantrel was she got a good feeling for her customers and never tried to push something that was drastically different. She had a challenge for the wedding, since most of the women in the wedding party normally could not afford the gowns sold out of the boutique. Yet the selection Diana was initially given worked very well, no matter what the final choices were. They were all stylish and yet seemed to fit the personalities of the women wearing them. Diana did a fine job cutting down the selections, and Elena was very proud of Dee and Ryo, who managed to make the final choices.

However, the mother figures for both men got to choose their own outfits for the wedding. Elena went for chic and elegant. Her gown was strapless royal blue silk, the skirt a straight cut. She had a jacket in the same material that buttoned and gathered, hugging the curves she still had at her age. The neckline was not deep plunging, going to the top of the gown, but still enhancing her breasts. She looked maternal, sexy, and very elegant. Her hair was done up, using rhinestone clips to keep it in place.

Aside from being a nun, Mother was older, with a short, round figure. The flowing cut of her gown worked well for her. The nun had her gray hair done in a classic chignon. Elena smiled at her. "You'll be fine. Didn't you say you always told Dee to follow his heart? Well, yours said you wanted to dress today like the proud mama you are." She removed a long jacket in sheer black organza from a hanger. "Now put this on."

"I will end up looking so plain comparing to the others from our families," Mother stated as she took the garment from Elena.

"Nonsense. You already look radiant, Maria. And you have a right." She smiled brightly. "Today is Dee's wedding day. You get to walk your son down the aisle and give him away."

Mother could not help matching Elena's smile. "Yes, I am. You have no idea, Elena. Dee was blessed to find his perfect mate and today they are getting married. I have to admit, for a while there after he met Ryo, I feared Dee would end up pining away for someone he could never have. I knew he loved Ryo so strongly, he would never stop loving him, and would wait forever." Mother had put on the jacket as she spoke.

"Ryo was just being silly," Elena stated, buttoning the top half of the jacket. From below the bust, the jacket was open and flared out a little. Also after the last button was a band of silver brocade that met in the front like a "V" and went around the jacket. "I thought he was raised knowing better than to be afraid because he liked men too. And to think, he waited until I confronted him when they moved in together. Even then, he was still afraid to face Rick."

Mother chuckled. "I guess he was wrong about that. Having both of your support means so much to him, Elena. And it means a lot to Dee, too."

Elena winked at her. "I know I'm just the aunt, but I swear I feel like I'm going to be a grandma soon."

"In a sense, you are. You're Ryo's surrogate mom." Mother smiled again, clasping her hands. "I know they believe otherwise, but if not for that baby, who knows when they would have decided to get married."

"I understand. I know they loved each other enough that a wedding was in their future. Whenever Ryo would stop stressing what others thought. But they were on the right path, since they started to live together. Besides, from talking to them, Dee was all for the hush hush so they could stay partners at work. That meant no wedding because of that too."

"I wanted to kick Dee about that. Yes, I understand how important it is for him to do his job having someone he trusts as much as Ryo, but they can't get fired for being a couple. So they end up working apart. As long as they can come home to each other and the life they made for themselves outside of the job. Well, they're getting married today, and they're still partners at work. At least they will be the same type of partners they were once Dee returns from baby leave."

Elena nodded and took Mother's hand. "At least that's all in the past now. Finding out he fathered a child with Dee helped push Ryo past that last hurdle a little sooner than he thought. But by moving in with Dee, he was getting ready to jump it." She chuckled warmly. "I dare say that this very wedding itself, with everything they picked for it, is Ryo's way of shouting to the world that he's marrying Dee."

"Yes. It is a very high profile wedding," Mother agreed.

Elena grinned wickedly at Mother. "Do you bet, Maria?"

"Depends."

"Want to wager that from one of the terraces my nephew will have access to, he'll be yelling that he got married to Dee?"

"No bet. I believe he will," Mother laughed. "With Dee right there with him, doing the same." She giggled. "Besides, I heard Ryo already did that this morning at the hotel, from his grandmother's room."

"Oh yes," Elena laughed. "That he did. Went out on the balcony and started yelling. And woke everyone who was still sleeping at 6:45 this morning." She went over to a hat box and took out a navy blue brimmed hat. Going back to Mother, she said. "Let's get this on, and then if we're good to go, maybe we should get you over to your nervous son."

"Please. At least I think Barry is doing a good job with him, since he hasn't called me yet." Mother chuckled and looking in the mirror, put on the hat. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, looking at her reflection. "Who is that?"

Elena hugged her, laughing. "That is a very proud mother looking very elegant for her son's wedding. Shall we go? I should have my camera out too. I want a picture of Dee's face when he first sees you."

"I'd love a copy of that picture, if you don't mind."

"Mother, you can have copies of any or all the pictures from this wedding day. Just like me." She winked. "Don't worry about leaving anything, because you plan to come back here when Dee is getting changed."

"Then let's go."

# # # # #

"Well, look at you looking all handsome," Ryo heard Elena's voice call out.

He turned to find his aunt walking into the suite reserved for him to get ready for the wedding. After taking a quick glance over toward the room where his uncle and Eddie were, he stood up. "Aunt Elena, I'm in a robe," he scolded affectionately, going over to the older woman.

"You still look handsome, sweetheart," Elena gushed, hugging him. She looked around the suite. "This is a very nice set up you have here. Snacks, champagne. Nice."

"I feel guilty because I know Dee doesn't have champagne," Ryo remarked ruefully. "I didn't request all this."

Elena smirked. "Dee has snacks, including of the dry toast variety in case he has butterflies that could lead to other things. And chilled Martinelli. So don't feel so bad."

"You didn't, did you?" Ryo asked.

"Not just me. It's also from your grandmother and grandfather, and Maria's family."

"Shouldn't you be somewhere, like helping the women be ready on time or something?" Ryo asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

Elena lightly cuffed the side of his head. "I'm here, of course, to take photos. You need before pictures for the wedding album, you know."

"I know. And that's what I thought the photographer you recommended we hire should be doing."

Elena chuckled. "John and his wife are fine photographers, but did you really think I was going to completely entrust this day to someone else? Of course, I want to get some pictures myself." She tugged at his robe. "Now, what are you sitting around waiting for? Rick and Eddie will help you if you need, but you need to dress yourself, as kingly as this set up is."

"I was just about to. Marcel arrived a few minutes ago, and he's getting everything set up for us, before delivering to Dee."

"I just came from Dee's suite," Elena said with a laugh. "Mother Maria was busy assuring the poor darling that she had seen Marcel go to the groomsmen suite."

"How's he doing otherwise?" Ryo had to ask. He should have been tired considering the 3 phone calls the night before. He had called Dee once, and Dee had called him twice. He was hoping that like himself, Dee had managed to get some decent sleep in between the calls.

"As nervous as a virgin on her wedding night," Elena stated with a giggle. "I need to go back there when he's halfway dressed for more photos, but I got the most delightful photos of the poor dear having a case of vapors. He's just beside himself with excitement."

Ryo shook his head. "As Dee said the other night, there's nothing virginal about him, especially with the baby on the way." He laughed.

"You seem to be holding up well," Elena observed.

"Good. Then no one will know I'm trembling like a virgin on her wedding night on the inside," Ryo stated.

Elena laughed and hugged Ryo. "Ah, there's Marcel now," she exclaimed. "So start getting dressed and I'll get a few pictures, then onto the ladies and men, and back to Dee."

"Elena…" Ryo remarked softly.

"Go!" Elena pushed him slightly toward the man who came from the other room holding Ryo's tuxedo.

"You are not going to take photos of me in my boxers!" Ryo stated firmly, but could not keep the laugh from his voice. He smiled at Marcel, watching as the man carefully hung the garments on the bar of a luggage rack.

"Of course I am. You don't have to put those pictures on the internet, you know. But yes, I will make sure there are pictures that you and Dee can enjoy going through together."

"Give it up, boy," Rick said, entering with Eddie. Both men were in their slacks and shirts. "You know your aunt, and the only thing arguing will do is get you to your wedding late, and she'll still have her photos."

Ryo sighed, rolling his eyes. "So true. Shoot away," he said, opening his robe.

Ryo was in his pants and shirts when John showed up. "I got the men. Now time to take over here," the photographer announced to Elena as he started to set up.

Marcel smiled. "I should take that as my cue to deliver Dee his suit."

Elena started to put her equipment away. "Timing is perfect so far. I'll go with you and get pictures of Dee now. Joyce is handling the wedding party, isn't she?"

"Yes. And we pulled Karen in to have a camera on the children at all times," the photographer replied.

"Good. Good. We've got it all covered from start to finish then. When will you start video?"

"The crew should be arriving any minute. They were getting the ceremony area before the guests started to arrive."

"Great. Okay, I'll leave the rest up to you. Remember now, this is my nephew. There's not a moment I want missed. Understood?"

"Very, Elena. Don't worry. I know you. Now let me stop talking and start taking pictures."

Elena smiled. "Okay, fellas. I'm heading out now to see Dee again. I'll see you soon."

"Thanks for the warning," Ryo quipped.

Rick guffawed, then smiled at Elena.

Elena shook her head, trying to look annoyed. Ryo looked too over the moon to succeed. She smiled and first kissed Ryo on his cheek, then pressed a light kiss to Rick and started for the door.

"Now remember, gentlemen, if anyone needs assistance with their suits, please page me. I have my associates with me, just in case," Marcel instructed to the three men in the suite.

"I think we know how to handle tuxedos," Ryo said with a smile. "But thank you for everything, especially the personal detail. It means a lot to me."

"Our grandmothers go way back. It was important to my grandmother that your wedding was catered to with the finest detailing. After getting to know you and Dee, it definitely became a pleasure to be part of this grand occasion," Marcel stated, and smiled. He took his leave and left with Elena.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask him if you could take a peek at Dee's," Rick said to Ryo as he tucked his shirt in his pants.

"Dee and I decided to surprise each other, and I'm sure I'm as curious as he is. I'll wait until I finally see him," Ryo replied, fussing with the cuffs of his shirt and looking around. "How long do we have anyway?"

"Forty-five minutes," Eddie replied, noticing Ryo's eyes roaming on the surface of nearby furniture and suppressing a smirk. He carefully nudged Rick.

"Forty-five minutes of freedom, boy," Rick said, amused. "It's not too late to change your mind."

"Hell no!" was Ryo's quick respond. "I'm marrying Dee!"

"Just checking." Rick laughed. "What are you looking for?"

"I swore I had cufflinks out. I know I packed them." Ryo started for his suitcase that he took with him from the hotel.

"Oh, those old things," Rick remarked, as the video crew arrived. "Ah look. We're now on candid camera."

John chuckled. "You do realize that everything you've been doing since Elena left will be held against you with photos."

"Easy there, dude," Ryo said. "I'm the police. You're the photographer. Besides, I can bribe big and put it down as a wedding expenditure."

Rick laughed, slapping Ryo on his back. "You're learning finally, my boy. Good for you. If you're really good, you can make like your aunt and me. Some of the 'wedding expenditure' went into good investing that paid off very well for us over the years."

"You both are crazy!" Ryo stated, looking scandalized.

"You do have a baby on the way," Eddie pointed out. "And a teenage son."

"You're crazy too. But I need to find my cufflinks."

"They're very nice cufflinks, Ryo. Where did you get them from?" Rick asked.

Ryo's head snapped up and he stared at his uncle. "How do you know which ones I…? They were just a pair that Dee got me for some occasion I forgot during our first year together. I thought they'd go well with the tuxedo."

Rick shook his head. "I hope you weren't getting sentimental over wearing cufflinks Dee gave you. Especially since you're wearing that fine watch he gave you this past Valentine's Day."

"What?" Ryo simply asked.

Rick went over to his own overnight bag and pulled out a velvet box. "Elena asked if I would take on the honors. We managed to salvage them from that mess over your parents' holdings not long after you moved in with us. Elena decided to keep it a secret until this day came. Frankie had already mentioned several times that he wanted you to wear these on your wedding day. They were a gift from Rayna's family. Akira gave them to Frank on his wedding day. And hopefully you'll want to wear them on yours." He handed the box to Ryo.

Ryo opened the box, and his eyes filled with tears as he stared at the cufflinks his father had worn on his wedding day. A gift from his grandmother, welcoming his father to her family. He lifted one of the silver and onyx pieces from the box, looking at the kanji character set in the center of the onyx stone. The kanji for love. The silver had a design of tiny cranes, the symbol for happiness and love for Japanese weddings. "Uncle Rick… oh God. Thank you. I'll have to thank Elena too. This is… perfect. Thank you so much." He wiped his eyes. "Sorry."

Rick chuckled. "At least when the pictures come back, we can prove Dee wasn't the only one having vapors before the wedding. But it's nothing, son. Your aunt and I, we tried our best to make sure your wedding day would be filled with everything your mom and dad would want for it."

"You have." In a quick move, Ryo was on his uncle, hugging him. "This is awesome. Thank you. And… I feel like they're here. Giving us their blessings."

"You know they would be, Ryo," Rick replied, hugging him back. "Your parents only wanted you to be happy. They wanted you to find love, to find someone as perfect for you as they were for each other. They didn't care if that person was female or male. Just as long as you both love each other. Believe me. We had discussed this the night of your 16th birthday party. And your parents would have loved Dee something awful."

Ryo smiled as he pulled away from his uncle. "Of course, I'll wear these. Dee had no idea what jewelry I chose to wear today anyway, and once he knows, he'll be glad too. Does Obasan know they didn't end up in the government's hands?"

Rick nodded. "She knows. We told her right after. And we all agreed to keep it quiet until you got married. She knows I'm giving them to you today. Just as I know she'll be dropping by to see Dee shortly, much like she did with your dad, and offer him a gift to welcome him to the family."

Ryo wiped his eyes again. "She already did. She wasn't face to face with Dee more than a minute and she welcomed him. Told him he was an Aoki."

Eddie handed Ryo a hankie. "Here, man. You look like you need this."

Ryo laughed and quickly wiped his eyes with it. "I'm okay now." He blew his nose in it and handed it back to Eddie. "Here. Take care of that. Okay, best man?" He winked at his old friend.

Eddie laughed. "Damn. And here I was hoping you forgot about that. Anyway, I guess I can drop the cufflinks you had on the table into your bag now?"

"You?" Ryo laughed.

"Your uncle made me!" Eddie defended.

"That would so not hold up in court, dude. You know that, too." Ryo laughed again.

Eddie cleared his throat. "Okay, got more. Since there aren't any brides in this wedding, some of us decided that certain traditions should be carried over to both of our grooms. Dee's mom, and both your grandmothers will be making sure Dee is covered. And it has been tasked to me and your uncle to take care of you."

"Which certain traditions? Because I am NOT walking down the aisle with a bouquet," Ryo replied, trying to sound stern, and failing miserably. He ended up smiling at his best man and his uncle.

"That old saying, of course," Rick replied. "I think your cufflinks pass for something old. Something new, well, I think we settled that will be your wedding ring."

"Which is where, by the way?" Ryo asked, his eyes on Eddie.

Eddie smiled. "It's already in the inside pocket of my jacket in there."

Ryo nodded. "Good. Nevermind how much we paid for the rings, I don't need to end up empty handed during the ceremony. Dee would have vapors for real."

Eddie laughed. "We won't do anything to upset Dee. Don't worry. Now for something borrowed." He chuckled as he pulled out a frilly handkerchief made from kimono silk. "Akemi offered to loan this for the occasion."

Ryo gingerly took it from Eddie. "I'm not having this stick out of my breast pocket."

"You don't have to. Keep it in your pants pocket. As long as you have it with you. You don't have to flaunt it, you know."

"Thank goodness for that," Ryo sighed.

"And something blue was easy," Eddie stated, since your vest and tie are blue."

"We're set then!" Rick exclaimed. "Which means, let's finish getting dressed and make sure this one gets hitched."

Ryo smiled. "I think we have a game plan."

"Dee, calm down," Barry instructed his friend who went to run his hand through his hair and barely managed to stop himself just in time to save his meticulously styled hair from getting messed up.

Dee, dressed in just a robe and socks, stopped his pacing and turned on Barry. "Shouldn't I be getting dressed by now?"

"You will be. Relax. I'm sure Marcel knows what he's doing."

"I wish we had more time," Dee muttered.

Barry went over to the table where a bottle of Martinelli was chilling in a silver ice bucket. He took one of the crystal champagne glasses and poured some of the sparking apple juice into the glass. Grabbing a piece of melba toast, he went over to Dee. "Here, And don't say no. It'll help, because right now you're setting yourself up to be sick when you should be getting married. Now sit down, eat and drink up."

Dee rolled his eyes, but took the offered items and sat down in a chair before a dressing table.

"The reason why you're not getting dressed an hour ago is to make sure you don't end up making a mess out of your suit while waiting the remaining time."

"Shut up," Dee muttered, then sipped the apple juice.

There was a knock on the door to the suite. Barry went over to open the door. With a huge grin, he greeted Marcel. "Come in, please, Marcel. Give this one his suit so he could get married. And hopefully shut up for a while too." He stepped aside to let the other man who carried two garment bags in.

Marcel laughed as he entered. "Two suits ready for wear," he announced, amused, spotting Dee. "By the way, Dee, I hear the ceremony location is just beautiful. I cannot wait to finally see it."

Dee smiled brightly, standing up. "Yes," he replied. "I couldn't believe it when I saw it earlier! It already looked amazing last night during rehearsal. But, oh my God! It turned out better than we expected. Sharon did an awesome job pulling this wedding together in the time she had."

"It's a good thing there will be two videos going," Barry stated. "Because I would love to be able to watch the entire processional, with all extras that we're going to miss while we make sure we don't trip over our feet."

"Yeah. Me too," Dee agreed. "Now Marcel, produce some wedding wear, please."

"Are you nervous?" Marcel asked as he went over to a rack. He set the garment bags on the rack and started to unzip the first one.

"Only because I'm afraid I'm going to be late for my wedding because I'm still stuck in a robe," Dee remarked impatiently, his eyes fixed on the what Marcel was doing.

Another knock came on the door and suddenly Elena was walking in.

"Elena!" Dee exclaimed. "Don't you check first? What if we were stripped down to just underwear or something?"

Elena grinned wickedly. "More of a reason to take photos, my dear."

Dee rolled his eyes. "Please."

Barry chuckled. "I say give the lady what she wants." He winked at Elena.

"Later Barry," Dee said. "We have a wedding to get ready for." He went to stand by Marcel, who was removing a suit and pants.

The other man also took out a brocade black vest and white silk shirt. Marcel held out the garments to Barry. "Here you go, sir. Yours to do what you wish after today, from what I was told. If you need any assistance, or something doesn't seem right, give me a shout."

"Will do, my man," Barry said, taking the offered garments.

Dee eyed Barry's tuxedo, as if searching for flaws in the same way he would first survey a crime scene upon entering. Dark green eyes went from the suit to the man who provided their clothing for the event. "What do you mean 'doesn't seem right'? We were final fitted just the other day," Dee blurted out.

"Things happen," Marcel replied smoothly, seemingly unaware of Dee's growing alarm. "It's best to be prepared and have nothing happen, then unprepared and have something happen. I'm prepared."

"Like what?" Dee demanded.

Barry placed a large hand on Dee's shoulder. "Chill, Groomzilla, or I'll make you put your tee-shirt back on." He chuckled at Dee's look. "If there is any problem, I'm certain Marcel will quickly tackle it in his usual smooth, efficient style." The larger man gave the clothier an apologetic smile.

Marcel smiled back. "Even grooms get ruffled feathers on their wedding day. We just manage to keep it quiet, unlike the women." He winked.

Barry grinned, patting Dee's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Especially grooms who earned the right to have to wear a tee-shirt that says 'Groomzilla' while he had breakfast with his family this morning."

At Barry's prompting, Dee took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Not a problem." Marcel handed Dee the suit, along with shirt he had been removing from the other garment bag. "Now, I'll bet you'll look different in this today than on Thursday. For the better, I hope." Marcel winked.

Barry eyed Dee's suit, seeing it for the first time. "Dude! Now that is a Wedding Suit! Damn, I already know Ryo won't be able to take his eyes off you today. Now, time to get dressed."

From a discreet distance, Elena chuckled. No one noticed as she took out her camcorder and was filming them. Even better, she thought, they forgot about her as Barry and Dee started to remove their robes to start dressing. She'll never know how she held back the squeal of sheer delight when she saw Dee's wedding suit. Barry was right. She knew Ryo was going to love what Dee had selected to wear on their special day. She also knew the reverse could be said. Her nephew was going to look especially handsome in the style and cut he had selected.

Holding onto his pants, Dee turned, starting to say something to Barry and his eyes met Elena's through the camera lens.

Being caught, Elena brazenly filmed on, exclaiming to Dee, "Now don't you look all handsome and sweet. Barry, you're pretty yummy too."

Barry's head swirled in her direction, his pants half on, eyes wide. "Wha? Oh shit!"

"Dammit Elena!" Dee yelped, turning his back to her.

"Oh! Very nice shot of that cute tush of yours, sweetness," Elena commented, the camera pointed at Dee's back.

Barry hopped into the other room.

"Hey best man!" Dee cried out. "I need a little help here with the crazy lady holding the camera."

"She's your family, bro. You deal with her," Barry's voice came from the other room.

Marcel started to laugh at both men. Elena continued to film, capturing Barry's escape and Dee's distraught. It would be perfect material for Ryo and Dee to laugh at years later, Elena thought.

"Elena! Please. Stop filming me in my underwear," Dee demanded, trying to cover himself with his tuxedo pants that he held.

"Oh please," Elena giggled. "If I was your mother, I might see what the fuss is. Then again, she did change your diapers once."

"Shit," Dee grumbled. "Anyway, last weekend you made it very clear that you're my aunt now. _That_ is almost as bad as my mom. And I don't care if she changed my diapers. That was 30 years ago!"

Elena smiled sweetly at Dee. "So, you'd let Ryo be the only one brave enough to have some before pictures in just his boxers? It will be for just you and him, unless you both decide otherwise."

Dee turned his head to glance back at the older woman. There was nothing bashful or shy about the look on his face. With a wicked grin, he asked, "Is that so? Let him!" Dee laughed.

"Fine. Just wait until I play this back for him. With you saying that while your boxer clad tushie is posing for the camera."

"Elena!"

She giggled. "You do realize that instead of putting up a fuss and failed attempts to hide, you could have been dressed by now." She panned the camera from Dee to the doorway leading to the other room. "Isn't that right, Barry?" she asked Dee's best man, who had just walked through the doorway to join them again. Barry had on his pants, shirt and vest.

"Jesus, Dee," the other man exclaimed, seeing Dee still in his boxers and attempting to use his pants as a shield to hide with. "If you don't want to get dressed, you could have grabbed your robe, instead of using these." He strode up to Dee and carefully pried the pants out of the nervous groom's grip. He held them out toward Marcel. "If you don't mind, Marcel, can you check these and make sure he didn't do anything to them that he'll be screaming about later?"

Marcel chuckled as he took the offered pants and started to critically survey them for any potential damage, which included other than rips and tears, creases and wrinkles in noticeable places.

Dee sighed heavily as Barry handed Dee his shirt.

"Here. Put this on at least," Barry said, making his voice gentle.

"Yeah. You're right." Dee took the offered shirt and went to the table where he had a white sleeveless undershirt waiting. As he started to get dressed, he said, "I'm sorry. I guess I am nervous. I mean, so far everything seems perfect. No problems with anything in set up with the ceremony. Wrong flowers didn't arrive, or ice sculptures not making it, or any of that stuff. Shit, even Sharon had the foresight to have back up downstairs in case of rain or snow. Which is a good thing."

Elena chuckled. "I heard you had a bit of a fit seeing it snowing when you woke up this morning."

Dee's slight blush was momentarily hidden as he put on the undershirt. "Well," he started with a rueful grin. "Panic, more like. I had this vision of a blizzard that would put the city on a total standstill by afternoon. Including guests, vendors, clergy, wedding party… everything."

"Family would still be here, Dee. And if I know Ryo, as long as there's still the two of you and witnesses, he'd have tracked someone down in the area who could make this marriage legal, and married you today anyway. In the atrium, however it looked, or in the foyer of a judge who could marry you. Relax, sweetness. You will be married tonight. No matter what. Because Ryo wants it that badly too." She smiled fondly at her soon to be nephew-in-law. "And you both have family that would do anything to help him make it possible, if it came to that."

Dee looked up from putting on his shirt and smiled at Elena. "I know. I shouldn't get all crazy. Ryo and I will be married by the end of the day."

"It should be within a couple of hours, which it won't be if you keep flapping your lips and dress as slow as a tortoise," Barry remarked. "Geez, and this from the man who was having fits because he wanted to be dressed five hours ago."

Marcel smirked and handed Dee his pants, his eyes looking at Dee's shirt, assuring it fell the right way. He had assigned himself to personally help Dee get ready for the wedding, because his tuxedo was fitted to enhance and compliment his swollen abdomen, rather than hide it. Marcel wanted to make sure that when Dee walked down the center aisle, he would look radiantly pregnant, not fat and wrinkly.

He helped Dee tuck his shirt in pants made to zip below the belly. Unlike all the other men in the wedding party, including Ryo, Dee's suit did not have a vest. Marcel did not think it was necessary considering Dee's condition and Dee's own choice of suits. The jacket and pants along would make all the impression needed. The cut was very classic that it worked with the formal wedding.

"Aww Dee," Elena sighed, sounding choked up. "You look so handsome and you're not finished dressing yet. In fact, I dare say, you look like a prince. You're going to knock Ryo off his feet."

"Thank you," Dee said, grinning. He glanced at himself in the mirror. He had to agree with her. So far, he was more than pleased at the reflection looking back at him.

Which filled him with a tinge of fear. It was all going too perfect, his mind kept reminding him. Even while dressing. Somewhere, somehow, something was going to happen, and when it did, it was going to be horrible. He shivered a little, and fought to banish the traitorous thoughts to the back of his head.

"It's going to be fine, Dee," Barry assured him, as if reading his mind. He noticed both Elena and Marcel nod their heads in agreement, eyes on him.

"I'm fine," Dee stated. "I'm okay. I'm just going to put on my cufflinks and…" His eyes went to the table where he thought he had set the box with his cufflinks. They were one of the first gifts Ryo had given him as his lover. The silver cufflinks were simple, yet classic in design. Other than the sentimental value, he thought they would work well with the suit. Not seeing them on the table, he went over to the bag he had his things he bought with him from the hotel and started to go through it, fearing that he might have left the cufflinks back at the hotel.

'Great! This is it,' he groaned, fearing the worse. There he was in this fine, expensive, Italian designed suit on his wedding day with no cufflinks. The shirt he had selected needed cufflinks, or his shirt sleeves would be falling out from his jacket. Then the MacLeans would laugh at him, because the truth would be revealed. He was just a poor boy, who worked hard to make a living, playing dress up as a fine gentleman. He felt a cold sweat break out. He couldn't do that to Ryo. Not on that day – their wedding day. When it all had to be perfect.

He was fighting back tears in his eyes as he faced Barry, who had met him at the hotel and had rode with him in a limo to the building they were in now.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Elena asked, sounding concerned.

"Barry… the cufflinks. Please tell me I packed them. What did I do with the cufflinks?" Dee's voice rose in panic and dread.

"What cufflinks?" Barry asked innocently.

Perhaps too innocently. Especially for Barry.

It made Dee pause, shaking off his fears as he studied the man who had been a best friend and brother since childhood. "Okay. What's going on?" he demanded.

Barry shrugged. "All I was told was to take your cufflinks away. God, I didn't think you were going to start vapors on us over it. Honestly, Dee. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sure they didn't either."

"Who they?"

"Ryo's grandmother. The Japanese one," Barry admitted.

"What?"

Elena gave Dee a soft smile. "Dee, there have been some ladies waiting outside until you were decent enough for me to let them in. Obasan is one of them. Shall I let them enter now?"

Dee nodded his head, gulping in a deep breath. "Yes. Please."

Barry gently guided Dee to a chair and made him sit, while Elena went to let the others in. Marcel handed Dee bottle of cold water and a napkin he quickly dabbed in the ice bucket.

Wiping his face with the napkin, Dee looked up to find himself surrounded by Mother, Estelle and Obasan, all who were smiling down at him.

"Um, may I help you ladies with something?" Dee asked, staring up at the three women. Elena was standing behind them, looking on with an amused smile.

"It's more like we are here to help you, Dee," Estelle replied.

Mother went to stand beside Dee and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. "You look like you had quite a start over something. Are you okay, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I think so. I thought I had left my cufflinks back at the hotel and that…." He stopped himself to take a deep breath. Just the memory of his fears was enough to bring the panic back. "Nevermind. I was being silly and worked myself up over nothing."

Mother frowned a little, then leaned over to kiss his forehead. "Remember what I told you this morning, Dee. No matter what might happen today, you and Ryo are getting married." She gestured with the fingers of her other hand. "All this, while it's all very lovely is just icing. The cake is you and Ryo standing before the clergy and taking your vows." She smiled gently at Dee, pressing her hand to his forehead. "Besides, even if half of what you planned goes wrong, the other half will still be so lovely and so much more than you thought you could have on your wedding day. So, what's the big deal?"

Estelle chuckled. "My dear, the reason to plan big is so no one will notice what does go wrong. If you start with nothing, people will notice. If you start with what you boys have planned, I doubt not even the old hens of my family will notice. They are all quite stunned with the beauty of everything already. Now relax, darling. The one thing that can stop this wedding is if we need to rush you out of here in an ambulance. So take a long deep breath, let it out slowly. And then let us help you with the final touches of your wedding trousseau."

"Trousseau?" Dee exclaimed, looking scandalized. "But that's for brides and I know I've been running on crazy hormones all day, I'm not a…."

Mother covered his mouth with a finger. "Shush, darling."

"But…"

Mother glared at him.

Dee looked back up at his mother and sighed.

"Good boy."

Estelle and Obasan were smiling. "He's such a darling, is he not, Estelle?" Obasan asked.

"Yes, he is. I can see why Randy picked him over anyone else he could have had," Estelle replied and winked at Dee. "Now dearie. There are no brides in this wedding. I must say that you do look truly elegant in that lovely outfit of yours. I can hardly wait to see you with your jacket one."

"He is quite the handsome one," Obasan agreed. "But he looks like a prince today."

"Indeed he does. Now sweetheart, since there are no brides in this wedding, we decided that one tradition that is usually for brides should be passed onto both you and Randy," Estelle explained. "Randy's Uncle Rick and Eddie will be handling him. However, it is best that it is us women who see that you are prepared in proper traditions."

"What tradition?" Dee asked, sitting up straighter in his chair.

"Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, of course," Obasan said in her accent.

"Oh…."

"Well, one might say for something old, you have us old bats pestering you before your wedding," Estelle remarked with a laugh, causing the others in the room to join her.

"I would never call any of you charming ladies an old bat," Dee remarked with a grin. "Besides, my mother dear here would see to it that I'll have one ear remaining." He smiled sweetly up at his mother.

Mother tugged on his ear playfully. "You know the drill well, Dee. However, I'm elected to start this off with something old." She reached into drawstring bag that matched her outfit and pulled out a box. "Here. This is from Jess. You know he was married for a time. On his wedding day, his father gave him this. He asked me to safe keep it for him. He knew his line of work was dangerous and he wanted to make sure that should anything happen to him, that this would be given to you on your wedding day."

Dee's eyes started to glisten again at the mention of the man he saw as his father. It was just before he left for college that he found out that Jess was married at the time he had found Dee next to a dumpster. Jess had wanted to take Dee home and raise him as their son, since his wife had not conceived yet. Only to find out his wife did not want children after all. Things went downhill from there, especially when Jess would not go right home after work, stopping by the orphanage to spend time with baby Dee. Before Dee's first Finding Day, which they celebrated since they had no date of birth for him, he had moved out of the house he shared with his wife, and got a divorce shortly after. He then told Mother that he could not raise a child alone, especially with his line of work, and it was best for Dee to leave him in the orphanage. But Jess would come by every day, sometimes for a few minutes, other times longer. He still managed to be a father to Dee. Over the years, since his death, Dee would discover that he had given Mother many things he wanted Dee to have at certain times in his life.

The box Dee now held was another. Something from Jess' father, Dee's grandfather in a sense. Slowly he opened the box, and gasped at the contents.

"What do you have there, Dee?" Estelle asked.

"This…." Dee pulled out the antique pocket watch on a chain.

"That is very lovely," Obasan stated with a smile. "And indeed very old. I'll bet it had been passed down for generations before your grandfather gave it to your father."

Dee nodded, unable to reply because of the knot in his throat.

Mother rubbed his upper back soothingly. "I know, sweetheart. I know you wish he was here with you. But in a way, through that, he is."

Dee nodded again. "Yeah. Thank you, Mother. For keeping this safe for him."

"It looks very expensive," Estelle noted. "Thought I'm sure the sentimental value is worth much more."

"Yes. It is," Dee replied.

"I'm glad you like it, dear," Mother said. "I know Jess is glad too."

Dee clenched the watch in his hand, holding it close to his body and looked up. "Thank you, dad," he whispered hoarsely.

Mother hugged him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you. Yes, I will have this with me when I walk down the aisle."

"Are we ready for the next item?" Estelle asked.

Dee nodded, smiling up at Ryo's grandmother. "Yes."

"That would be me, Dei," Obasan said, stepping forward and bowing slightly, then held out another jewelry box. "On behalf of the Aoki name, I ask that you accept this, as we accept you as one of us."

Dee fought to get words past the new lump in his throat. "Domo arigato gozaimus," he uttered hoarsely. He lifted his eyes, giving her a smile. "And may I say you look beautiful in your kimono."

"I am glad you like it. I had it custom made especially for today. After all, I could not wear any old thing for my grandson's wedding." She winked at him.

Dee knew enough about kimonos to know that she had to have spent hundreds of dollars, maybe even close to a thousand for the entire ensemble.

"Please, Dei, open it."

"Of course." With a fond smile, he opened the black velvet box. His mouth dropped. "Oh…"

Mother and Estelle laughed. Barry busted out in laughter and Obasan chuckled gracefully.

"Now I understand about the cufflink thing," Barry remarked, slapping Dee on his shoulder, "Lookie that, bro. You got a nice new set of cufflinks."

"They're gorgeous," Dee muttered, his eyes on them. "Love," he read the kanji in delicate silver over the onyx stones."

"I had given Frank a pair just like that on his wedding day to my Rayna, to welcome him into our family. Now I give you the same." In Japanese, she continued, "On behalf of all Aoki, I welcome you, Dei, into our family."

Barry held out a napkin to Dee, and he took it to wipe his eyes.

"Frankie's cufflinks are Randy's something old," Estelle added.

"Oh… really? I know he's very pleased about that," Dee stated. "And…" He gazed up at the elderly woman standing before him looking regal in her colorful kimono with fine silvery threads and beadwork around the obi. "I am honored," he told her in Japanese, bowing his head.

Obasan smiled. "I am glad. Now let's go back to English before the others will think we're talking about them, Dei."

Dee laughed and looked up to meet the eyes of this delightful woman that he felt was a grandmother to him within the short time he had met her in person. Her dark eyes were very much like Ryo's. She met his gaze and they both smiled.

"Thank you," he said in English. "It really is an honor. And I will wear these with pride today."

Obasan nodded her head and winked at him. "For sure, from now on, I am Obasan to you, nee?"

"Of course. Obasan."

Obasan patted Dee on his cheek. "My grandson has always had good taste. I am glad to see he also had the same good taste in picking his lifemate." She backed away from Dee and looked over to Estelle.

"I guess I'm something borrowed," Estelle said. "You can borrow me as another grandmother anytime, Dee." She smiled at him.

Mother and Obasan giggled.

"Of course, Grandma MacLean."

"Nah… none of that MacLean stuff there, young man," Estelle stated. "After all, when this day is through you will be a MacLean yourself. Your name will carry MacLean."

"Yes, indeed it will, ma'am." Dee grinned up at her.

"You are most gracious and charming when you want," Estelle chuckled. "I heard your friends talk at the party last night, and I believe they have trouble thinking you can be. But you are, and hide it well until you choose otherwise. Now for the real something borrowed." She held out another jewelry box.

From the shape and size, Dee knew it was a ring. He opened it and looked inside.

"It is a MacLean insignia ring," Estelle explained. "It's Franklin's. We would both be honored if you would wear it today for your wedding."

Dee took a deep breath, completely overwhelmed. He knew Estelle and Franklin MacLean both had decided Dee was deserving to marry their grandson, and were looking forward to being great-grandparents by blood. He had no doubt that that Obasan accepted him to be Ryo's husband, and was also looking forward to being a great-grandmother through her deceased daughter's bloodline. Still to find himself being showered with acceptance and love at this moment in his life was overwhelming to him. He covered his eyes with his hand, still holding the box with the ring.

He nodded. "Y-yes… I would be honored to wear it," he said between sobs.

Mother scooped down to put her arms around his shoulders. "Aw Dee. It's okay."

Dee nodded. "Yes. It is. You all made it so." His removed his hand and looked at each woman standing before him. "Each and everyone of you, alone, has made today truly a special day. And I'll never forget this. Really. Thank you." He smiled up at them. "Your great-grandchild," his eyes went to Mother, "and grandchild, thanks you too."

He started to remove the ring from the box. Estelle took the ring from him. "Allow me," she said, and placed the ring on the forefinger of Dee's right hand."

"I should finish getting ready," Dee said, smiling at her.

"Of course."

"May I help you with the cufflinks, Dei?" Obasan asked as Dee started to stand up.

"Of course, Obasan. You can." He hugged her first, then Estelle, and Mother. He peered beyond the women to find Elena was getting it all on film. With a huge grin, he walked over to her, making sure his face stayed in view as he got closer and then hugged her until she squealed.

"Funny you should go in that direction," Mother laughed. "Because we still have one more item before you can be truly ready to walk down the aisle."

"Oh?" Dee asked.

Elena fumbled in her camera bag and produced a blue men's handkerchief. "Here you go. Something blue. And folded the right way, I think it would look wonderful with your suit and behind your boutonnière, don't you agree?" Dee looked down at the royal blue material and noticed the L-M initials embroidered on it.

"I most certainly agree, my dear lady," Dee replied with a big grin. "Alrighty, I need to get my cufflinks on." he glanced back at Obasan and smiled. "Then my pocket watch situated." His look went to Mother. "And finally I need my hankie tucked in once I get my jacket on." He smiled again at Elena. "Think we can handle that."

"Yes," came the reply from the four woman.

Barry laughed. He slapped Dee on the shoulder again. "Dude, I see you're in good hands for now. So I'll take that as my cue to finish dressing as well."


	22. Countdown

Once dressed and ready for the wedding, Barry glanced over to find the women and Marcel still fussing over Dee

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 22 – Countdown

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Big thanks to Gracie Musica, who helped with the last scene. Just a reminder about whenever Akira, Ryo's grandmother, uses Dee's name. The literal translation of the katakana for Dee is 'Dei'. There's a slight difference in infliction when saying 'Dee' and 'Dei' using Japanese pronunciation, even if they both more or less come out to 'Dee'. Akira and the rest of Ryo's family speak English well enough to make the difference. Thus most of Ryo's Japanese relatives call him 'Dee'. However, Akira does not, even if she could. She prefers it, and her special way of bringing Dee into the family. So whenever she is speaking, you will notice that Dee's name is spelled 'Dei'.

So I'm going to attempt a posting marathon over the weekend and see if we can get past this wedding. The Unexpected II is complete in draft form. I don't play to start writing part III until some time in September, I think. Sorry for the delay this time, but I got caught up in a challenge community over at LJ for another fandom, and then Comic-Con (and meeting my current two favorite actors!), I got a little off track. So I'm going to do my best to make up for it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read. I hope you all like the rest of this wedding!

Once dressed and ready for the wedding, Barry glanced over to find the women and Marcel still fussing over Dee. They had since been joined by a friend of Elena's who had taken over recording the events in the room. Behind the cameraman, the flowers had arrived.

Barry joined the group. "Hey, I'm going to check on the other guys and make sure they're all ready to go."

Dee looked at the pocket watch. "We have 20 minutes, don't we?"

Barry nodded, smiling. "Yes we do. Twenty minutes until they start shooing all the guests to their seats and closing off the entrance so the wedding party can gather and line up."

Elena reached up to hug Dee. "That would be my cue to get back over to your very soon to be husband and make sure he's ready to take that big walk." She patted Dee's cheek. "I'll be seeing you soon, sweetness, with your husband in tow."

"My husband…" Dee's eyes went wide with amazement. "Oh my God! This is really really happening! Ryo is going to be my husband."

Mother laughed. "Yes, darling one. And you are going to be Ryo's husband."

Dee's smile was wide. "I am. And I swear I'm going to do everything I can to be the best husband ever. 'Cause Ryo deserves that."

Akira pulled Dee into a hug. "You already are. I had noticed the difference in him ever since you came into his life, even just speaking to him on the phone. He has been changing for the better. In the last couple of years, I had started to notice he had shaken off all those barriers that was holding him back. That's because of you. And I love you for that."

Dee hugged her back, kissing her forehead. "I love you too, Obasan," he said softly.

Tears came to the old woman's dark eyes as she smiled up at Dee.

"I need to go and make sure Ryo is still getting dressed and not screaming out to everyone that he's getting married today. I'll see you inside, Mom," Elena said to Estelle, hugging her. She went over to Mother and also pulled her into a hug. "And I'll be meeting you by the elevator in about 20 minutes."

"With pleasure," Mother said.

"Hold up, Elena," Estelle said, as her daughter started to leave the room. "Let me take my leave here, and join you."

Barry looked at Dee. "I should go join the men now. I believe Mother has custody of you from now until she hands you over to Ryo." He chuckled and winked.

"Sure. Thanks, Barry," Dee said, going to fill another glass with Martinelli. "I'll see you upstairs."

"Please," Mother said, trying to roll her eyes, but not quite succeeding. "I can't wait to hand him over."

"Mother!" Dee started to chuckle. Mother winked at him and grinned.

Estelle's eyes went from Dee's head, down to his feet and then back up again. "I would say you look ready to be married. And I must add, you look most dashing."

"Oh indeed. He looks very handsome, does he not. Ryo won't be able to keep his eyes off him," Akira added.

"That is so true," Estelle agreed. "We should be joining Elena now, lamb, and take one more look in on Randy before heading upstairs and waiting for the big moment to finally start." She hugged Dee tightly.

"Thank you, Grandma," Dee said, hugging her back. "For everything. But most especially for accepting me. That means so much to Ryo. More than you can ever imagine."

"My Randy is no longer an island. He is getting married and there's a baby coming to join the family he already has. How can I deny that? If for nothing else, Franklin and I have learned that love is love, and it has nothing to do with the sexes. Randy would not be better off with a woman, nor would a woman love him as much as you do," Estelle stated. "That was my deciding factor."

"Still, thank you."

Akira was smiling for her turn to hug Dee. As he hugged her back, she stood up on her toes to whisper in Japanese, "I know New York is your home, but you also have a home in Kamakura, Dei. Always."

"I look forward to one day seeing that home," Dee replied in Japanese, hugging her.

From the door, Elena clapped her hands. "Now come on. Fifteen minutes 'til showtime. Stop making the boy late."

Standing next to her, Barry chuckled at Elena's spirit.

"All right," Estelle replied, feigning annoyance. "So pushy, my daughter is. I suppose my husband would say she got it from me." She smiled at Dee and Mother. "Maria, we will be keeping your seat." She took Akira by the other woman's arm and escorted her to the door.

Dee and Mother watched as the others left the room.

Marcel was giving Dee a final once over. "Well, I think my work here is done. I should make a quick dash over to the groomsmen and our other groom just to assure myself all is well, as I have not received any calls stating otherwise." He smiled at Dee and held out his hand. "Let me offer my congratulations on your very impending marriage."

"Thank you, Marcel," Dee said, shaking the other man's hand. "Without you, most of our groomsmen would still be looking like detectives today." He chuckled and winked. "Ryo and I appreciate all the extra effort you took to get these marvelous suits ready for today in such a short time."

"It's been my pleasure, Dee."

Dee smiled. "I guess all that's left for you is to head up there and enjoy yourself. Will you be making the after-party, too?"

"I intend to. Listening to the younger set of MacLeans, that would be the most 'in' thing to do all season," he replied with a chuckle. "I'll see you later, Dee."

As Marcel left, Dee turned to open a box on the table. "Mother, now it's time for me to give you something." He removed a corsage of calla lilies and blue irises that matched his boutonnière of a mini-calla lily and blue iris with a couple of cherry blossoms. He faced his mother smiling. "You do look very beautiful today. Of course, to me, you always do, but I'm biased." He chuckled. "I almost did not recognize you when you first walked in wearing that."

Mother laughed. "I'm so glad they captured that look on your face for photos. Do you think you can handle this?" she asked, indicating the corsage and the pin Dee was holding.

Dee grinned. "Yeah. Oddly enough, now that the time is so near, and knowing there's clergy in the building, I feel calm now. Okay, totally excited and happy, but otherwise, I'm fine now." To prove his point, he pinned the corsage onto the long jacket with a steady hand. "See?" He leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"I'm so happy to hear that, Dee. I was afraid we'd have to have Barry standing at the altar holding onto a paperbag or three." She hugged Dee again. "Now, why don't you pour us some more of that delicious sparkling apple juice so we can have a private toast. Before we know it, it will be time to go meet Ryo and Elena."

Dee's breath caught for just a moment, his eyes bright and shiny. The color was lighter, appearing more emerald that then dark moss green that was his normal shade. He poured more Martinelli into his glass, and then filled one for Mother, handing it to her. "To the best mother in the whole world," he said, holding up his glass. "If not for you, I know I would never had made it this far, and find someone I could love forever. I love you, Mom."

"Aw Dee," Mother said, her voice cracking. Her eyes glistened with tears. "I'm afraid I'm going to be weeping throughout your ceremony."

"That's okay, dearheart," Dee said, wiping a tear from her cheek after they took a sip.

"Now my turn. To the most wonderful son a mother could ask for. You are more than just a blessing, my son. You are a miracle. And you deserve all the best that this world can offer you. I'm so happy that includes the man you will call your husband in a very short time and from then on."

Dee found himself wiping a tear. "I guess I have no choice but to drink to that, huh?" He smiled at her, taking a sip of the bubbly cider.

Mother smiled back at him, taking a drink herself. "And this wedding… everything about it. You deserve this too, Dee. I'm so glad you decided to take advantage of opportunity presented. Not that your love, or your marriage to Ryo, would be any less valid in a small, simple ceremony. It's just… I know I always teach my children to be humble, but I am not one to discourage the better things in life. I hardly doubt it would corrupt you, so enjoy whatever may come your way."

Dee studied his mother. "There's a reason for that last part, I assume?"

Mother smiled up at him. "Just a mother's instinct, is all." She grinned wickedly. "Now, before it's too late, perhaps I suggest you make another stop in the bathroom. You know with that baby, and you being all excited, you don't want to pause the ceremony to have to dash off to the restroom."

Dee laughed. "You're right. Wetting myself won't be very attractive either, I suppose. Wait right here." He kissed her cheek again, setting down the crystal glass on the table, and went off to the bathroom.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Barry walked with the women from Ryo's family until he stopped two doors down on the opposite side of where Dee's suite was. He smiled at the women. "Ladies, if you will excuse me now."

"Of course, Barry," Elena said. "You go finish up your best man duties and we'll all see you upstairs."

"I'm looking forward to you and Eddie escorting us to our seats," said Estelle.

Akira smiled at Barry, bowing her head slightly. "I too, Barry."

As the women continued on their way down the hall, he took a deep breath, taking out his cell phone and reading the texts he received. The first one said, "Have Bentley to be used for getaway to airport on standby if needed tonight. A new axle on the way for carriage repair." One problem tackled. Even if the hansom cab could not make it in time for the departure to the reception, they could still use it going up to the after-party. And if Dee dared pitch a bitch over a Bentley, Barry intended to slap his long time friend upside the head good, pregnant or no.

He checked the second text sent not very long ago. "Drake and JJ on their way with Chief and the Commissioner." Barry checked the time. Twelve minutes to showtime. They were cutting it close there, but it was likely they could hold off the start of the ceremony within a reasonable amount of time and have the full wedding party as planned. He realized he was hearing something close to panic from down the hallway, halfway between Dee and Ryo's suites. He looked up to find the older women placating a distraught looking Diana outside the groomswomen suite. That was not his problem, he decided. Leave the women to handle their issues, while he took care of the men's. Hopefully whatever it was that was plaguing the women would be resolved as efficiently as the other mishaps that had been going on all day. He had received a voicemail from Yuki, who in his heavy Japanese accent, had given him a rundown of the fight between MacLean and Lane women, and the destruction they had caused. Yuki ended the message saying all was well anyway and that he had taken pictures with his camera phone. It was yet another disaster averted or quickly cleaned up that day.

He had to chuckle despite his concern over the two late groomsmen. He could not wait to see Dee and Ryo's reactions once they were given the list of all the mishaps that had been kept from them. The two went about their day, getting ready for the wedding, thinking all had been going smooth from the get-go.

Now if only the wedding cake would arrive before guests were let into the reception, he reflected. Earlier in the day, the car transporting the cake was in a fender bender and it toppled over. The kitchen where the cake was made was in another location owned by the group Bridgewaters was under. Currently those assigned to the cake were frantically working on creating the new layers that could not be saved from the traffic accident to get it to the reception across the city on time.

He was reminded of his most current task. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he took another deep breath. Opening the door, he called out, "Please someone tell me Drake and JJ are here and getting dressed."

The rest of the men were sitting around and talking, with a game on the flat screen television in the main room of the suite. They all looked up at Barry.

"They called a few minutes ago, saying they're stuck in traffic. The damn snow is causing fender-benders all over town," Ted replied. "But JJ said they abandoned the Commissioner's limo and are now walking. They estimate they should be here soon."

"Soon? What's soon? We start lining up in…" he looked at his watch, "…eleven minutes."

The door burst open. "We're sorry," JJ announced in a high pitch. Barry turned on them, and noticed JJ was visibly shaken. He was not sure if it was from the crime scenes or the time they had left to be ready."

Marcel's assistants were already taking the tuxedos off the rack and getting them prepared to be put on.

JJ and Drake dropped their coats and bags on a chair, and starting to rip off their shirts.

"I wish I was able to shower first," Drake sighed.

"Dude, if you can shower and be in your tuxes, ready to go in…" Barry looked at his watch again, "15 minutes, then go."

Drake gave Barry a double look of surprise.

"I can hold things off for five minutes if you can get your asses up there within that time. I'll make sure Dee and Ryo are held off for five minutes. Go!"

Drake grabbed JJ by his arm and pulled him across the room. "Bathroom is where?"

"Right there on your left."

JJ yelped as he got dragged along. The door to the bathroom closed behind them with a slam.

Barry looked at the bags on the chair and shook his head. He picked them up and knocked on the door as he heard the shower go on. "Hey, here's your bags in case you have something in there you need. Like clean shorts, hopefully."

The door opened and JJ's hand shot out to grab the bag from Barry and the door shut again.

Barry slapped his forehead. "Man, I'm so looking forward to a double shot of tequila later tonight," he sighed.

Marty continued to stare at the closed bathroom door. "Dudes… they're taking a shower together?"

Ted shrugged. "A little more cramped than communal showers at the house, but I'm sure there ain't nothing there that the other didn't see before." His grin suggested more to his comment than having to shower at work with others around.

"No way, man. So not true," Marty remarked.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Someone get that," Barry said.

Tsubasa went over to the door and opened it. After a quick exchange of words, he came back into the suite holding a box. "Flowers are here, ladies," he announced, setting the box down.

Barry shook his head, having already received his boutonnière when Dee's, along with Mother's corsage had arrived in a cold storage box while the women were fussing over Dee. Barry had taken the liberty to put his on, so he would be ready to do whatever he needed to in the remaining time before he was to, along with Eddie, escort the immediate family members not in the wedding party to their seats, then take their places at the altar to wait for Ryo and Dee to make that big walk. He joined Tsubasa and started to hand out the boutonnières to the groomsmen. Leaving Drake and JJ to Marcel's assistants once they left the bathroom, he put his attention on getting the rest of the male half of the wedding party prepared to go.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

"Come in," Diana called out when someone knocked on the door of the women's suite. She was helping one of women that Dee knew from the orphanage. The Hispanic beauty had arrived at the orphanage at age 16 a year before Dee left for college. Elisa was a lively and vibrant woman, who had flown in with her family from San Diego. She had married a Navy man at 20, and moved along with her husband. Her husband was currently stationed in San Diego after a tour in Japan and Guam. Like Dee, she had managed to break the mold of an orphan, having traveled the world with her military husband, and still enjoyed a good, happy life with a family of her own. Elisa was the closest thing Dee had to a sister and was glad she was able to be part of the wedding party.

"If that's you, Dee, go away," Julie giggled. "I'm surprised Barry was able to keep him in place and not running around inspecting everyone to make sure all was well."

The door opened as Julie spoke, and a man, pushing a cart with two large boxes and a smaller one, entered. "I understand there's some lovely ladies here who deserve flowers," he spoke loud enough to be heard.

"Oh yes!" Janet replied, enthusiastically. "That would be us."

All the women stopped their last minute fussing with their hair, and assuring make-up was just right to applaud the florist. With the women gathered around him, he opened the first box with a flourish to reveal 4 bouquets made of the wedding flowers: white calla lilies, pink ranunculus, yellow and pink blend Asiatic lilies, purple freesia, purple hydrangea, pink champions, blue irises, blue thistle, yellow Asiatic lilies. The beautifully arranged flowers were contained in a circular bamboo weaved mat folded in half to produce the effect of a fan, with a handle at the bottom. Ribbons in the wedding colors hung from the bamboo mat, and the handle had a tiny band of rhinestones.

The women ohhed at the sight of their bouquets, having no idea until that moment what was selected. In the smaller box was Diana's bouquet. Her bouquet consisted of long stem white calla lilies and blue irises, with sprigs of cherry blossoms and white thistle.

"These are beautiful!" Emiko gushed, smiling.

Elina exchanged glances with Darla and the two women smiled. They started to laugh when their thoughts were shared by two voices at once.

"Who selected these?" Julie and Elisa asked, both women knowing Dee the longest out of the women in the room. The two women stared at each other startled and joined in on the laughter.

"From what I understand, Ryo picked the fans, but Dee loved the idea of the flowers in them. Dee picked out all his choices for flowers that he liked and the scent did not make him ill, which is why there are no roses here," Diana explained. "Ryo had to weed through Dee's massive selection and got them down to enough for Dee to finally pick two of each color, more or less."

"They're just gorgeous," Darla said.

The florist started to hand out the bouquets, as Diana tried to prevent the women from clustering too close and taking a chance of crushing the very exquisite and expensive bouquets.

"As you get your flowers, please move across the room. We're going to take some quick photos of everyone and a couple of group shots and then it's going to be just about that time. So I suggest if there's anything someone needs to do that won't wait until after the ceremony, do it now," Diana yelled out cheerfully.

She smiled as the women collected their bouquets, all doing the same thing upon receiving, putting their noses to it and smell the fragrance. Once the final selection of flowers were made, a huge arrangement was made and Dee had to sit in the room with it for an hour. When the hour went by and he was feeling fine, the orders for all the floral arrangements went out to the florist. The bouquets were as pleasantly fragrant as they were beautiful to look at. Diana glanced across the room, smiling wider as the women talked as they did last minute things, holding the bouquets.

Dee and Ryo had an extremely beautiful and elegant wedding party as far as the women were concerned.

"Picture time!" the photographer called. "Everyone into the other room please.

As the women all started toward the designated room, Janet took a step and stumbled, falling down on her knees.

Elina was immediately at her side as the room became quiet, except for Janet's sobs. Gently, Elina touched the women on her knees and bent over. "Janet?" she asked.

Diana was rushing to stand next to Elina. "Are you alright, hun?"

Janet lifted her head and tried to carefully wipe her eyes. "I-I'm okay. More embarrassed and…" She sobbed again. "I think my shoe heel broke."

"Oh no!" Diana moaned. She looked over to the other women. "Okay, start taking your individual photos. Janet, we'll work on a quick fix to get you in the group photos. Elina, please, see to her and the others, while I go get help."

"Are you sure you didn't injure anything?" Elina asked, studying the upset woman with a professional eye.

Janet shook her head. "No."

"Then can you turn and sit down, so we can take that shoe off?"

"Yeah. I'm so sorry. What are we going to do?" Janet asked, starting to sob again at the likely prospect that she would not be part of the wedding party when they went down the aisle and most likely messed things up royally. Janet was worried that Elina would be pulled out to just to keep things even.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Elina replied calmly, in a soothing tone. "Here, let me help you."

"Thank you, Elina."

Diana opened the door, intending to rush out and find someone that could lend them a hand. As she started to make a dash out, she encountered Elena and Ryo's grandmothers as they were about to enter the room. "Oh! Excuse me!" she gasped.

"What's wrong, Diana?" Elena asked.

Diana pointed inside the room. "Janet tripped and broke her shoe heel, and I'm at a loss on what to do this close to start time."

Estelle guided Diana back into the room, while Akira went on ahead over to Janet and Elina. Elena entered the suite, her cell phone out. "Sharon, it's Elena. We need Lady Chantrel down in the groomswomen suite ASAP. Please have someone find her." Elena glanced over to the other women.

"Are you sure it was just the shoe heel?" Akira asked. "Is your foot okay?"

Janet nodded, tears running down her face.

"Oh dearie, a silly shoe is nothing to cry over," Estelle tried to soothe the upset woman.

"The shoe was expensive enough, but it's worse than that," Janet cried. "I'm so sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for, " Elina said. "Things happen."

Elena hung up her phone. "Sharon said Lady Chantrel is in the children's suite and is putting a call for her to come over here."

"The dress!" Janet wailed. "I ripped the dress!"

Elina nodded, looking at the older women. "I'm afraid it's true. Somehow her heel got caught in the bottom of the skirt and ripped the dress. It's only a few inches…."

"Someone will notice. I won't be able to be a part of this with bare feet and a torn gown," Janet sobbed.

Akira pulled Janet into her arms, hugging her. "It's okay, child. We'll figure something out. Now come and sit down."

The door opened as the Japanese woman had Janet seated and went to get her some water. Elina wanted to take a closer look at Janet's foot, just to be safe.

"I hear we have an emergency," Lady Chantrel stated, entering the suite. "I was just getting a stain out of one of the little one's dress." She chuckled. "Children will always find something to get on their pretty clothes. But no fear. That crisis was averted. Now what do we need done here?" She noticed Janet and walked over. "My dear, what have you done here?" She scooped down to get a closer look at the dress. "Hmm… we're going to have to do some quick, but delicate stitching here."

Diana held up the shoe and heel in different hands. "And this."

Lady Chantrel smiled at Janet. "Someone get a wash cloth and help wipe this pretty one's face. A little reapplication of her make-up would be in order, too."

"What's the use? I can't be in the wedding like this," Janet cried.

"Nonsense. Things like this is why I'm here. Now I'm going to need you to get out of your dress. Have one of these fine ladies help you with your make-up, and you can dry up your tears. It might take an extra fifteen minutes, but we can tackle this."

"Thank God," Diana sighed. "Elena, thank you for referring me to this wonderful women to handle the gowns."

Elena giggled. "Not only does she work wonders with clothing, but she gives personal service on the big day. Meaning she's a veteran of mishaps such as this."

Lady Chantrel looked up and smiled again at Janet. "And the wedding always went on – with everyone in the wedding party accounted for. Now out of your gown please, so we can get this repaired."

Elina helped Janet up, while Estelle and Akira started to help her out of the gown. Diana had retrieved her robe and handed it to Janet, as the boutique owner took the gown and went into the room where all the clothing was staged.

"Dee and Ryo are going to be so mad. The wedding can't be held up for fifteen minutes," Janet protested miserably.

"It can, and it will," Elena said, taking out her cell again, to inform Sharon of the situation.

"We can spare the time. We'll just have that lovely quartet play a few more selections to appease our guests, and before we know it, we'll be able to start," Estelle stated. "Besides, we have a one hour slot for the ceremony, but judging from the rehearsal last night, it won't take the full hour. It was planned like that for things like this. Now take a deep breath and relax."

"If you insist. But I am really sorry…"

"Ah… none of that, young lady," Akira stated. "Everything will be just fine, you'll see. Ryo and Dee will have no problem with waiting an extra fifteen minutes to be married. That they are married surrounded by all those who are special to them is what is important. Now, let's fix up your make-up, ne e?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Estelle and Elena smiled and left Janet in Akira's capable hands. Diana went to make sure all the individual pictures were taken, including hers and Elina. It was quickly decided that once Janet was dressed and ready to go again, they would get Janet's photo and a couple of quick group shots.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Barry shook his head as he got off the phone with Sharon. "Guess what, dudes? You have an additional fifteen minutes."

"What?" Jim asked. "What happened?"

"Gown repair, from what I heard. She won't say which one. But Sharon just informed Mother and Eddie to keep our grooms down here for another fifteen minutes."

"Good lord, Dee's going to have fits," Marty muttered.

"It's all good. They're holding off sending everyone to be seated for ten minutes, so we don't have edgy guests waiting too long," Barry explained.

"It's only fifteen minutes, dude," Ted exclaimed. "How edgy could they get?"

"Believe me, at a wedding, very," Marty replied, with a tone of experience.

Barry nodded. "Not to mention there are some family members at odds with other families. We don't need them breaking out into another catfight or worse in the atrium. They stopped serving alcohol fifteen minutes ago, but there's still over beverages, along with the appetizers to keep the guests happy. Once they start moving everyone into the atrium proper, everyone who is ready, other than Dee and Ryo will be asked to start going up. When we have everyone, including those we're waiting for up there, they want to still take a few pictures. That will give Ryo and Dee a few minutes to slobber all over each other before they have to come up. We'll be taking the full wedding party pictures with our grooms after the ceremony."

JJ emerged from the bathroom in an undershirt and hot pink satin boxers. "Okay, where's the happy rags?" he asked.

"Right here," an assistant called out, holding out JJ's shirt and pants.

"Ah, good. Clean and fresh, with clean clothes. The simple things in life," JJ stated.

Drake left the bathroom a few minutes after JJ, also wearing undershirt and boxers, but unlike JJ, both were white.

"Gah! It's still pink!" Drake exclaimed as he saw his tuxedo waiting for him to put on.

"Pink's a good color," Pedro remarked. "It's a strong color. For the man who wears it, it builds character."

"Easy for you to say, since you're not wearing pink," Drake huffed, buttoning up his shirt.

"He's wearing lavender," Marty reminded Drake with a laugh.

"Another character building color," Adriano added.

"Nevermind. Bring on the pink," Drake sighed.

All the men wore black tuxedo jackets and pants, with white shirts. Their vests and ties were textured in one of the colors of the wedding, with small square patterns on it. The boys' suits were like the men's, with their colors matching the dress of the girl they were to walk with.

"I can tell you I like that they settled normal ties rather than bowties for this thing," Drake said, as he allowed the assistant to do the knot on his tie. "Ties are bad enough, but those bow ties… sheesh, talk about uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but they look sharp," Jim pointed out.

"I'll bet that was Dee's decision," Marty laughed.

"True," Adriana said. "Dee could hardly keep one of these one. He'd be going apeshit halfway through the ceremony in a bowtie."

The men chuckled as JJ and Drake quickly got dressed, with the help of Marcel's efficient assistants.

"Well now," Barry stated, not long after, watching Drake and JJ put on their shoes. "Apparently, we have time to spare, since I didn't get the movement phone call yet."

"Can I grab a drink then?" Drake asked. "My throat is parched."

"Sure. Go ahead," Barry said.

"Me too!" JJ exclaimed, and smiled as he watched Drake pour champagne into two glasses. "I really could use that after this day. Time to forget crime scenes for a while and concentrate on happy weddings."

"Please. No case talk from now until after our grooms head off to their suite in the Pierre, please," Tsubasa requested.

"With pleasure," Drake amended.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Elena hung up her phone and smiled at Ryo, who stood by the window, watching the falling snow. "Guess what that call was for?" she asked.

Ryo turned from the window. "Hopefully that everyone is on their way upstairs?" he asked.

Elena nodded. "Yes. The guests are seated. Janet's gown has been repaired and Lady Chantrel pulled new shoes out from her emergency reserve, and all's well now."

Ryo smiled. "Good! That means we get to leave here….?"

"In a few minutes." She went over to Ryo, starting to unnecessarily brush off his jacket. "You look so handsome, sweetheart. And so happy."

"I'm ecstatic," Ryo replied, looking down at his aunt. "I think you got it all," he chuckled.

"Just making sure."

Someone knocked in a quick rapid pattern on the door. Elena's smile got brighter. "That's the signal. It means the last of everyone is going into the elevator and heading upstairs. And we're only 15 minutes late."

"I wonder how Dee's doing with this extra waiting?" Ryo mused.

"Hopefully he has two ears when he walks out of his suite," Elena chuckled. She took one last look in the mirror, seeing her and Ryo's reflection. "Oh baby! You're getting married in a few minutes!" Tears came to her eyes as she hugged Ryo.

"Yeah," he replied, hugging her back. "I am. To Dee!" His eyes got wide with amazement. "OH MY GOD! I'm getting married to Dee!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, you are. And because you proposed to him too."

"Dee wants me," Ryo mused amazed. "I mean, he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, raise children… and… oh my God!"

"Ryo?" Elena asked, suddenly concerned.

Ryo tried waving her off. "S-sorry…" he wheezed. "I-I'm just so… happy… that…" The excited groom let out a gasp, attempting to catch his breath.

Elena's eyes went wide as Ryo started to hyperventilate. "Oh shit, Ryo!" She rubbed his back gently. "Come on, nice slow deep breath…. That's it. You can do it… In, nice and slow… out, gently…"

Ryo found himself following his aunt's direction and shortly, he was breathing normal again, his face beet red. "And Dee's the pregnant one," he snorted, ruefully.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Ryo nodded. "Oh yeah, fine. I just had his moment… that I found someone I could spend the rest of my life with… that I want to spend every moment of our lives together with Dee, and he wants to do the same with me." Tears came to his eyes again. "I can't help it. I feel overwhelmed that someone so wonderful as Dee could decide he wanted me…."

Elena hugged him. "I can understand why. And I'm glad. Ryo, you didn't just find someone to love for a lifetime. You are one of the lucky ones. You found your soulmate."

"I know," Ryo smiled. "That's what's overwhelming me, and for a moment, it was so strong…" He grinned and kissed his aunt's cheek. "Let's just say that the thought of Dee takes my breath away."

"Aww… I'm so happy for you, Ryo. Now, are we ready to leave and get you hitched?"

"Definitely!" Ryo laughed, hugging his aunt again. "Let's go. I can't stand the suspense any longer on what Dee is wearing."

Elena hooked her arm through Ryo's and together they left the suite, closer than ever to the big moment in Ryo's life.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Dee noticed him the moment he stepped out of the suite with Mother. They had spoken to each other over the phone, but it was the first time he had seen Ryo since the night before. He was all too aware of finally seeing the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It was only a matter of minutes now, before they were to head upstairs and join their wedding party to start the ceremony.

Just that thought alone almost made Dee break into a run. Add in that Ryo looked so handsome, and gorgeous, in his dark charcoal gray tuxedo, with the blue textured vest and tie. He looked like a model, or a handsome prince. The chestnut color haired man stood by the elevator, talking excitedly to Elena. He appeared suave, confident, sophisticated, and so very happy. Dee's breath caught in his throat as he gazed at Ryo.

Ryo's head turned at the sound of a door opening, and Mother's voice talking to Dee. He caught his first glimpse of Dee dressed for their wedding. He let out a gasp, unable to believe the vision before him. His eyes met Dee's as his dark haired, so-very-soon-to-be husband started to walk toward him with his mother on his arm. Both men had huge smiles as mother and son made their way down the corridor toward the elevator.

With wide, amazed eyes, Ryo watched with appreciation as Dee approached.

Ryo always knew Dee was a looker. To him, there was no one more gorgeous than Dee, from his lean, lithe finely muscled body to the set and color of his eyes to the chiseled handsome face. Everything about Dee's looks were perfect to Ryo. At that particular moment, as Ryo watched him, Dee was beyond perfect. He walked tall and proud with a beautiful smile, and glittery shining green eyes.

Most amazing to Ryo was that Dee wore white. White tuxedo trousers, white shirt with white textured tie, and a long white jacket that stopped mid-thigh. The jacket had a handsome exquisite cut to it. Under normal circumstances, with his build, Dee would have looked incredible in it. He look more so in his current condition. The jacket had one button, which was low over the baby swell and hung open, flowing gracefully. Between the style and way it was altered, Dee looked elegantly pregnant.

Ryo was surprised not only at the choice of color, but Dee's final decision to enhance his pregnancy, rather than hide it. Ryo had to hear enough worry from Dee about looking "fat and frumpy", to use the pregnant man's words, in the wedding photos.

There was nothing frumpy about the man now so very near. The cut of the suit and Dee's build enhanced that he was definitely not fat.

Ryo found himself sighing with appreciation, unable to take his eyes off Dee. "My God,' he thought. 'This beautiful man wants to marry me!' Ryo's heart thumped with mounting excitement and love.

He felt Elena tug on his arm, and heard her exclaim, "I told Dee this is what you'd do. I was right! Doesn't he look like a prince out of a dream?"

Ryo mutely nodded his head, in complete agreement with Elena. "I know he's my dream come true," he said.

Dee came to a stop before Ryo, green eyes focused solely on him. Both men still were smiling.

Ryo gazed up at Dee, his dark eyes shining with love. Taking one of Dee's hands in his, he said, "You look amazing! My God, Dee… You look absolutely beautiful."

Dee lifted the hand holding his with a chuckle. "So do you," he replied, then kissed the hand. "I know the clothes play a big part of it, but Mother said it's your aura. I have to agree with her."

Smiling, Ryo drew Dee into a hug. "The same with you, so I agree with her too." He gazed up at Dee. "Happy Wedding Day, Dee."

"I can't believe it," Dee sighed happily, returning the hug. "In a short time, we're going to get into that elevator and get married."

Ryo pulled away from Dee a little, then leaned up to close the slight gap in their heights. "Last unmarried kiss," he stated before taking Dee's mouth for a kiss.

Dee pulled Ryo close again, kissing the other man back.

Ryo giggled when they parted. "Okay, second to last unmarried kiss." He grinned up at Dee.

"Hey now," Mother warned the two men. "Easy there before the wedding."

"Aw Maria," Elena gushed, squeezing Mother's arm excited.

"Did you get to see what they did up there?" Dee asked Ryo. "It's gorgeous!"

"Yeah, it is," Ryo agreed. "So much more than what we pictured. And it's our wedding, Dee." He smiled up, his eyes shining. Finally managing to take his eyes off the other man, his eyes went wide again. "Oh! Mother? Is that really you?"

Mother blushed a little as she nodded, clenching the strings of her beaded drawstring purse in her hands. "Yes. I wanted to walk Dee down the aisle as his mother."

"You look lovely, Mother."

"Flatterer," Mother giggled.

Dee tried to look stern at his mother. "Don't you start up with that 'old goat in new clothing' stuff again, or I'll have to tug your ear." He grinned at his mother.

Mother's mouth dropped as Ryo and Elena laughed, both nodding in agreement with Dee.

"I guess I should know when to quit gracefully, huh?"

"Very graceful," Dee stated, his eyes on her.

"Very elegant too," Ryo added.

"Oh… now back to you two. You only have a few unmarried minutes left, you know," Mother pointed out, clearly embarrassed by the praise both men bestowed upon her.

Ryo smiled, leaning closer to Dee, one arm around the other man's trim waist. His other hand carefully rubbed Dee's belly, mindful not to wrinkle the jacket. "You are the most handsome man that has ever walked down the aisle," he said. "I thought you should know that."

"Oh? And here I was thinking you are." He smiled softly as Ryo continued to rub the bump. "Yup, Chibi's excited too."

Ryo bent over enough to kiss the bump. "Aw, do you know Daddy's excited, baby?"

Dee laughed in delight. "I'm not the only one, I'm glad to see."

"No kidding," Elena remarked, rolling her eyes. "This one here started to hyperventilate on me when we started to leave the suite."

"Elena," Ryo warned, teasingly glaring at her. "I'm talking to my baby, so I'm not going to call you names."

"Oh did you?" Dee asked in concern. He pulled Ryo to stand up straight and studied him. "I'm glad you're okay now." He caressed Ryo's cheek.

"Very much so," Ryo murmured contently. "Especially being with you again."

"Oh such a long horrid night we forced you boys into," Elena said, then laughed. "Aw, they're so cute."

"Hush woman," Ryo warned, giving her another mock glare. His attention went back to Dee. "So how is Chibi doing today?"

Mother smiled at Elena. "Our little boys are getting married today." She daintily dabbed her eyes with a lace edged handkerchief.

"I can tell you I can feel an excited little chibi," Dee said. "Because her daddies are getting married today."

"Are you sure that isn't just your nerves, sweetheart?" Mother asked Dee with an impish grin.

"Speaking of daddies, has anyone seen Bikky and Carol yet?" Ryo asked.

"Last I checked in, they both were doing a marvelous job in helping the children get ready," Mother replied. "And wait until you see Bikky. He's quite a handsome young man, and so happy for you two." She went up to Ryo. "And you look incredibly handsome."

Ryo hugged the elderly nun. "Thank you, Mother. And I mean it. You look absolutely beautiful today."

Mother giggled. "It must be the aura. I'm so happy for you two." She smiled up at Ryo. "Welcome to the family, Ryo. You made me so happy."

Ryo smiled back at her. "Thank you for accepting me."

"I had no choice, darling. That first time Dee brought you over, I just knew you were the answer to all his dreams. Which also makes you the answer to all my prayers for my son."

Ryo blushed slightly. "Mother…" he said, becoming choked up with emotion.

"It's true." She smiled gently at him. "And now you're getting married."

"I know," Ryo replied in awe. "We are." He smiled brightly.

Elena went over to hug Dee. "I am so happy, sweetness! Today's the day."

"It is," Dee laughed, hugging her back. "Thanks for keeping him together."

"As if I had a choice," she said with a giggle.

Dee continued to keep his arms around her, hugging her. "I'm grateful to you and Rick, too, Elena. You're been nothing but support, and I'm so glad. Especially for Ryo."

"Of course, darling." She leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "You're so sweet," she gushed.

Mother's eyes went to Dee, as he spoke to Elena, then back to Ryo, grinning. "Besides, I never thought my Dee would be wearing white on his wedding day."

Ryo giggled. "He shouldn't be, you know." He winked at her. He let out a laugh when he looked over to find his aunt had Dee blushing again.

Mother giggled too. "In white and blushing," she amended, grinning up at Ryo. "I won't tell, if you don't," she said in reference to Ryo's comment about Dee in white for their wedding. She reached up to hug him again.

Giggling, Ryo hugged her back.

"What are you two whispering about?" they heard from next to Ryo.

Ryo looked up at Dee, who still had Elena hanging off his arm. "How beautiful you look," Ryo replied.

Mother nodded in quick agreement with Dee.

Dee smiled at them. Everyone looked at Elena as her cell phone started to ring.

Fumbling, she took it out of her bag. "Hello?" Smiling, she listened to whoever called. "Wonderful! I'll tell them. See you in a few, Sharon." She closed her phone and putting back in her bag, stated, "We have to go now. They're almost ready for you boys." She turned to hug Dee again, and kissed him. "This is it!" she exclaimed excited.

Dee returned the hug, laughing. "Thanks again… Aunt Elena." He smiled brightly at her.

Elena laughed delightfully. "Aw… you're too precious." She patted his cheek, laughing more as it heated under her touch. "I love you, Nephew Dee."

Ryo laughed, shaking his head. "Elena, are you stealing my husband?" he teased.

Dee looked over at Ryo as Elena pulled away from him. "I was about to ask the same to my mother," he joked. He took Ryo's hand and squeezed it.

Elena went up to Ryo, to hug and kiss him. "Oh sweetheart. You're getting married in a very short while." She hugged him again. "I'll see you two gorgeous men in a bit."

Mother went to hug Dee. "Okay you two," she said as Dee kissed her. "Five minutes, then up you go. You don't want to be late for your own wedding now." She wagged a finger at both men. "And behave. There's time enough for that later tonight."

Ryo started to blush as Dee shook his head.

"Mother…" Dee remarked.

Mother laughed, giving Dee one more hug and then went to join Elena, who had the elevator doors open and waiting.

"We'll be seeing you two soon," Dee said. His eyes went wide with wonder as he watched Mother get in the elevator with Elena, the blue twinkling lights of the glass enclosed car behind them, along with a western view of Lower Manhattan and the East River. "It's almost sunset," he murmured.

Ryo grinned as he came up to stand next to Dee, putting his arm around the other man's waist.

When the door closed and the two happy women were on their way up to the atrium on the 47th floor, Dee turned to Ryo. "Oh my God, Ryo," he croaked, feeling choked up. "It's happening. And it's all so beautiful. And no mishaps… at least that we know of."

Ryo smiled, pulling Dee into a hug. Gazing into Dee's eyes, he said, "Everything could fall apart right now, but as long as I get to marry you, I could care less what happens." He leaned in to kiss Dee.

Dee nodded. "Yeah, me too," he stated. He pulled Ryo even closer, resting his forehead against Ryo's. "God, I love you so much," he intoned.

"I love you too." Ryo buried his face in Dee's neck, sighing happily.

Dee kissed the side of Ryo's head, also letting out a happy sigh. They remained in each other's arms until they heard the chime indicating that the elevator had stopped at their floor. "We should go," he said.

"Yes." Ryo pulled away from Dee, taking his hand. Together they walked into the elevator. Looking out the glass, Ryo smiled. "Look at the snow. It looks so magical, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does," Dee finally had to admit, now that he had Ryo with him, and they were on their way up to be married. There was nothing to stop them now. "I'm glad we ordered jackets for the women or they'd be freezing going over to Bridgewaters."

Ryo nodded.

Dee pulled Ryo close as he pressed the button for the top level and the atrium that was decorated for their wedding. He started to nuzzle the side of Ryo's face. "That strange bed was so cold and lonely last night."

"I agree," Ryo said.

"Do we have to go to that after party thing?" Dee asked.

"Yes. But only for an hour. It is our wedding night." He briefly kiss Dee's lips. "And we still have to make it to our wedding breakfast in the morning." Ryo smiled up at Dee. "Before we head off to the Bahamas for our honeymoon."

"Okay, just an hour is fine," Dee said.

"You know this is more for the guests than us, but we are expected to put in a minimal appearance. And it is along the way to the Pierre." Ryo winked at him. "Don't tell me you can't wait until we get there?" he asked.

"I'm just anxious to finally get a chance to relax with you in my arms, as my husband… just the two of us."

Ryo's hand shot out to press the Hold button on the elevator panel, bringing the elevator to a stop. "We have a few more minutes," he said. "And I think you need some me and you time before all the madness of a wedding."

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't stop, you know. Timing is important."

"We still have time until the sun is in the right position, so come here." Ryo held onto Dee, one of his hands snaking between them to rub Dee's belly.

Dee rested his chin on Ryo's shoulder, gazing out at the city beyond the elevator. "I should be rushing us up there like a madman to get married, you know. But I'm enjoying this moment too much."

"Me too," Ryo said contently.

Dee moved his head to kiss Ryo softly. Ryo gladly returned the kiss. With a grin, Dee announced, "Okay, this is the real last kiss unmarried." He placed his arms tightly around Ryo and kissed him soundly, causing the other man's legs to go weak.

"Dee…" Ryo sighed. When they broke apart, Ryo said, "I want to give my last one to Chibi. Is that okay?" he asked.

Dee nodded. "Certainly." He carefully ran his fingers through Ryo's hair.

Ryo kneeled before Dee and opened the button, pushing aside the jacket. With his lips close to Dee's belly, he said, "I love you much, little one." He kissed Dee's swell. "You be a good baby for Daddy during the ceremony. Okay?"

Ryo felt a thump against his lips and drew back with wide eyes. "Oh holy shit…" He looked up at Dee with wide eyes, seeing that the other man was aware of what just happened.

Dee nodded, grinning widely. "Yeah. She just kicked."

"I – I felt it," Ryo stated in wonder. "I finally felt our baby kick." He was grinning like a madman. He laughed. To Dee's belly he said, "That better be a yes." He rubbed the bump, kissing it again. "I felt you," he sighed.

Dee watched Ryo, smiling. "I think it means she's really happy that we're getting married and that was her wedding gift to Papa." He laughed breathlessly. "You're too adorable, you know," he added to Ryo, smiling.

Ryo smiled back and stood up. He buttoned Dee's jacket and made sure it fell the right way.

"Now… those were second to last, so the very last unmarried kiss?" He raised an eyebrow. When Ryo nodded, he backed Ryo up against the glass and started to kiss him.

Ryo moaned and kissed him back, his arms around Dee and squeezing him slightly.

Dee pulled back with slightly glazed eyes. "I think we should stop… before we…."

Panting slightly, Ryo nodded. "Y-yeah."

"Besides," Dee chuckled. "We don't need the FDNY bursting into our wedding." He hugged Ryo again.

"Hell, I think half of them are invited," he joked. "I know most of the police force is."

"Seems like that, doesn't it?" Dee laughed. "Personally, I'm glad so many wanted to come to our wedding."

The speaker on the elevator panel crackled and Diana's voice came through. "We know what you're doing in there and you better stop and get up here! You have a wedding party waiting for you."

Dee jumped slightly. "Ack! Sea Hag!" He glared at the speaker.

Both him and Ryo started to laugh as Dee found the button to reply. "All right! We're coming" he replied. At Ryo's snort, he realized what he said. "Oops." He started to chuckle.

"You should be glad your mother didn't hear that, Dee," Diana replied.

Ryo burst out in laughter. He pushed the button for the elevator to start making it's ascend again. "There," he said as Dee depressed the speaker button for him. "We're on our way up."

"See you in a few seconds, cuties," Diana said and turned the speaker off.

Dee's eyes were wide again as he drew in a deep slow breath. "Holy God… this is it," he muttered.

Ryo started to rub Dee's back. "Easy baby. Don't you start hyperventilating on me, especially now."

"Hell no! You're not getting out of it that easy. I'm getting married to you and nothing can stop me!"

"Good. That's how I feel too," Ryo said. "If you start to get nervous up there, just forget everyone else," he stated.

Dee lovingly smiled at Ryo. "That's the easy part. All I have to do is look at you."

Ryo was unable to keep from hugging Dee. As his arms went around the taller man, the elevator doors opened at their destination.


	23. The Wedding Part 1

Vince and David were having some cheese and bread when they noticed an elderly Japanese woman approach them with Estelle

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 23 – The Wedding, Part 1

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Just a reminder about whenever Akira, Ryo's grandmother, uses Dee's name. The literal translation of the katakana for Dee is 'Dei'. There's a slight difference in infliction when saying 'Dee' and 'Dei' using Japanese pronunciation, even if they both more or less come out to 'Dee'. Akira and the rest of Ryo's family speak English well enough to make the difference. Thus most of Ryo's Japanese relatives call him 'Dee'. However, Akira does not, even if she could. She prefers it, and her special way of bringing Dee into the family. So whenever she is speaking, you will notice that Dee's name is spelled 'Dei'.

So I'm going to attempt a posting marathon over the weekend and see if we can get past this wedding. The Unexpected II is complete in draft form. I don't plan to start writing part III until some time in September, I think. (I'm going to take a break in August to write some more Torchwood fics, including a FAKE/Torchwood crossover with the most talented Gracie Musica, over at our LiveJournals).

* * *

Vince and David were enjoying some of the fine cheese and bread, along with champagne, when they noticed Estelle approach them with an elderly Japanese woman dressed in a very expensive, beautiful kimono. David, having volunteered time as a costumer in community theater knew the elderly woman's kimono cost the most out of all the Japanese outfits there, and that the cheapest paid kimono among the guests still cost a small fortune. When the couple first arrived, it did not take them long to figure all the Japanese guests were family of Ryo's, with the exception of Dee's three friends that they met at the bachelor party.

Estelle was smiling as she came up to them. "Good afternoon, Dr. Siworski. I'm so glad you and your husband could make this glorious occasion," she greeted. "Is this your handsome husband?" she asked of David. "My, but you are much better looking in person than those photos your husband keeps in his office."

Vince laughed, "David, this most delightful woman is Ryo's grandmother." To Estelle he said, "I would not miss this for the world. I'm actually 'out of town' today and hoping nothing comes up that one of my associates cannot handle. And please, Mrs. MacLean, call me Vince."

David extended his hand to Estelle. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"Pleasure is all mine," Estelle smiled. "And please, call me Estelle. Vince, I thought we've been through this already when we first met. And that goes, for you, too, young man," she added to David. "Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Ryo's other grandmother, Akira Aoki. Aoki-san, this is Dee's doctor, Vince Siworski and his husband, David."

Vince smiled at the Japanese woman and bowed. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Aoki-san. I would have said that in Japanese, but I forgot how, I'm afraid."

Akira laughed. "Don't worry. I do not expect the world to know Japanese. That is why I learned English at a young age. Came in handy when my daughter brought home an American." She winked at Vince. "She took after her mother, as Ryo's grandfather was Australian," she added with a laugh. "I am very honored to met you and your husband." She looked behind the couple. "And are these your children?"

Vince looked down, smiling proudly at this children. "Yes. That's Jason and Hannah. They're a little shy, I'm afraid. Especially with so many people around. We could only get a sitter to cover for the reception."

"My, they are the darling ones," Estelle cooed. She smiled fondly. "To think there's going to be a little one for me to spoil again soon."

"If you mean Dee, yes you will," Vince stated.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice called over a loudspeaker. "We ask that everyone start moving inside the atrium and take your seats. The ceremony will be starting in approximately ten minutes. If you did not sign the guest registry, there will be time to do so now before taking your seat. On behalf of Randy Ryo MacLean and Dee Lane Laytner, we welcome you to this joyous union of love."

The chatter grew to an excited level as ushers started to guide the guests through the entrance to the atrium.

"I guess that's our cue to go find a seat," Vince said to the two women.

Estelle smiled at them. "Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen. And I hope to talk to you more at the reception."

"I'm looking forward to it, ma'am," Vince replied with a grin. He lifted Jason to carry the shy toddler into the atrium.

"We'll see you later, Mrs. MacLean… uh, Estelle," David corrected at the elder woman's stern look. "Aoki-san. It's a pleasure to meet you." He took their daughter by her hand. "Ready to go inside and see Dee and Ryo get married?"

"I will see you two later," Akira said.

The little girl waved at the women, calling out, "Bye Ryo's grandmas." The adults laughed at the young girl. As they started for the doors, she looked up at David. "Will we see Bikky too, Papa?"

"Of course, you'll see Bikky," David replied, escorting his daughter inside, following Vince.

Estelle and Akira went to join the rest of the immediate family, who stayed in the hallway, chattering on about Vince and David's children, and how Estelle found Vince to be a fine doctor and worthy to assist bringing their great-grandchild into the world. After joining Dee and Ryo for Dee's last visit to see his doctor, Estelle had done some research on Vince's reputation among MOPs and was quite pleased to discover he was among the best in the tri-state area. It made her appreciate the doctor more.

Vince stopped just inside the atrium, stepping to the side to allow other guests to enter. "Holy God," he exclaimed.

"What is it?" David asked.

"Would you look at this set up?"

David laughed. "Well, do you think such a grand entrance as that hallway would follow a rather plain looking ceremony area?" He looked around the atrium. "Isn't it pretty in here, Hannah?" he asked their daughter.

The little girl nodded her head. "Yup. Very!" She was gazing around with wide eyes.

David smirked at Vince and poked his husband in the side. "You know Dee and Ryo. What else were you expecting?"

"I know Dee and Ryo are detectives, so I was expecting something beautiful on a detective's pay level."

"And yet you already met Ryo's grandmother. Couldn't you tell she came from money?" David asked.

"I knew. It's just, well, Ryo acts so not like someone from a family like this. But I guess when it comes to Dee, he's willing to go all out," Vince replied.

"Exactly."

"Well, let's sign this rather unusual guest registry and find some seats before the good ones are all gone," Vince said.

They went over to the guest registry, which was a bare cherry blossom tree, and scrolls in wedding colors, all pre-printed for guests to fill out the information, along with any personal messages to the family. As it was situated on a long table on one of the far sides beyond the last section of seats and not against a window, the strategically scattered papers allowed guests to flock around the table and write out their scrolls without holding anyone up. Vince and David were far from the only ones at the table. When the scrolls were filled out, guests were to roll them up, and slip a ribbon around them. The ribbons had glittery loops that could be hung on one of the hooks on the tree branches. The table also had floral arrangements and candles much like the ones in the hallway.

David allowed Vince to fill out the main section as he looked around more. Hanging from the glass ceiling was white lighting netting. From the netting hung Japanese lanterns and icicle lighting in wedding colors. The sky above was still visible through the lights.

There were six sections of seats, the two innermost sections having the most chairs to a row and most rows, with the other sections becoming smaller, with less rows and chairs to a row. All the chairs were white wood and covered with white organza chair covers. The first four rows of the two main sections had dark blue ribbons tied around them, the bows having a calla lily and blue iris attached. All the other chairs in the atrium had the same white chair covers, and the calla lily and blue iris as part of the bow in the back, but the ribbons were of the other wedding colors. One row was pink ribbons going across the atrium, the next yellow, then lavender and light blue.

David took the pen when Vince nudged him to sign his name and add his own personal message. He then had Hannah and Jason scribble their names on the bottom.

Vince let David roll up the scroll and hang it on the tree. Once David had their message hanging, he looked across the table.

Nudging Vince, David asked low, "Hey, isn't that their boss?"

Vince glanced across the table, and nodded. "Yeah, that's Commissioner Rose."

"He looks lonely, doesn't he?" David asked.

"For now. At the end of the ceremony, he's to escort Diana, from what I understand," Vince explained.

"Still… something about him. Kinda sad. And at an occasion like this," David mused.

Vince picked up Jason again, and took David's hand with his free hand. David took Hannah's hand and allowed Vince to lead them to find seats. An usher came over to Vince, pointing to the side aisle on the left, stating there were seats there. The doctor thanked the man, and the family started to walk in the indicated direction.

"There's history there," Vince explained as they went up the first side aisle. He noticed an usher wave to him and indicated four seats. "I believe we have reserved seating," Vince said with a chuckle, realizing that while ushers were helping guests find seats, they were most definitely being directed from the start.

"History?" David asked.

"Yeah. Apparently the Commissioner met Ryo and Dee during their vacation in England – back before they became lovers. The Commissioner had an eye for Ryo, so when he got back to the States, he got a transfer to the 27th." He gave David a level gaze.

They stopped at one of the dark blue rows at the front on the left side before the usher. Looking at the ribbons, Vince stated to the usher, "I'm sorry, but we're not immediate family."

"You're the MOP," the usher explained. "Most of the immediate family will be seated together on the other side, so Dee and Ryo requested this side be filled with honored guests. As Dee's MOP, you were placed very highly on that list." The usher gestured for them to enter the row with a smile. "Please do enjoy the ceremony."

"Many thanks," Vince replied, amazed. He stopped at the fifth seat from the center aisle, which was the first available one. He picked up the program and Japanese style rounded fan that was designed in wedding colors, with the initial logo, Dee and Ryo's names and date on the fan. He seated Hannah in the chair, smiling charmingly at the other guests, who appeared to be slightly younger than Dee and Ryo. All the women were dressed in high fashion designer gowns and expensive jewelry, but their demeanor was less stuffy than those they had passed in the other rows. Vince figured them to be the younger generation of MacLeans, who according to Ryo, were in complete support of his marriage to Dee and looking forward to the birth of the baby. Removing the items from the next two chairs, he settled Jason next to his sister, and then sat down himself, with David taking the last seat next to the MOP.

He leaned to David and said low, "We'll switch seats again in a few minutes, but for now, I suppose you want to finish our topic."

David nodded. "So this Commissioner transferred just to chase after Ryo?"

"Exactly. And from the get-go, Dee and him did not hit it off very well. They yelled and screamed at each other more than spoke. Always trying to outdo each other. And that's just from personalities. Add in that Berkeley was trying to get Ryo for himself, it made the situation violable between the two men."

"And now he's at Ryo's wedding to Dee, huh? He seemed okay at the bachelor parties," David commented.

"I guess it really hits being here, at the wedding itself," Vince replied.

"Why bother coming at all?" David asked.

"Didn't you notice that he was with Diana at the parties? They're dating, sort of. According to Dee, once he found out that Dee was expecting, he stopped going after Ryo, finally accepting that he'll never get him."

"Ryo and Dee belong together," David stated.

"Obviously, if this wedding is any indication. Seems that Berkeley also once had a work partner who was a Carrier. The partnership ended in tragedy when his partner went into labor while they were trapped in a dangerous situation. Both the partner and baby died. And Dee reminds him a lot of that partner. So now he's taking the big brother approach to Dee, instead of chasing after Ryo." Vince chuckled.

"I thrive on gossip," David stated with a laugh. "I guess he's only now getting closure on that attempt with Ryo, huh?"

"Exactly. He'll be fine when he has to escort Diana for the rest of the festivities."

David opened the card stock program with a smile. "Now, let's finally get a clue to what else they have planned for us."

"The music selection is quite lovely, wouldn't you say?" Eunice asked. She was sitting next to Hannah and leaned over once she noticed the strangers looking at the programs.

"Oh yes," David replied, also leaning over. "I'm a Vivaldi man myself."

"I like the touch of some of the Celtic music," Vince stated. "Especially that dulcimer player."

"She's exquisite indeed," Eunice stated. "By the way, I'm Eunice MacAllister, but don't let the last name fool you. My grandmother was born a MacLean. I'm one of Ryo's cousins. And this is my cousin, Wilbert."

"Pleased to meet you, Eunice. I'm Vince and this is my husband David, and these two beautiful kids are our children."

"Oh, you Carriers too?" she asked.

"He is," David replied amused. "He did all the hard work." David was aware that Berkeley Rose was seatting himself behind them in the second row. Despite history and any feelings the Commissioner was currently resolving, it was obvious that he was also selected to be one of the VIP guests. David was not sure if it was because the happy couple to be married that day decided he was close enough to them for the honor, or if it was only because his escort was Dee and Ryo's Maid of Honor.

"Are you Ryo's friends? Dee's? Or both?" she asked, making friendly conversation, while being curious of the two strangers.

"I'm Dee's MOP," Vince replied. "We just found out that placed us seating here in the VIP section."

Eunice smiled brightly at him. "Well of course, it does. You're the one who's taking care of Dee and that little baby of his." She fluttered her fingers to indicate behind them. "Some of the old dinosaurs out there may feel otherwise, but on the whole, once the family got used to it, they are quite excited about the newest heir of the MacLean family."

"I intend to make sure Dee and the baby get through this as easy as possible," Vince stated.

"I believe you. Estelle, Ryo's grandmother, said she did some research on Dee's doctor and she is quite pleased with what she found out. She says that Dee has the finest MOP there can be in New York City."

Vince started to blush at the praise. "I'm just doing my job and enjoy what I do, ma'am."

"Oh, don't ma'am me, Vince. I'm younger than you," Eunice stated with a giggle.

The music came to a stop for a few seconds, then the strains of Vivaldi's "Winter" was heard.

Eunice looked at the program. "Oh! The Prelude is starting. This is when the elder family is escorted in! This is so exciting!"

Vince laughed. "Yes. Yes, it is."

They all looked to the back of the room, to find Barry and Eddie, looking suave in their Italian tuxedos make their way down the aisle.

On Eddie's arm, walked Akira, looking regal and proud, smiling brightly as they made their way down the center aisle to the front row on the right. Behind Eddie, walked Barry, with Estelle on his arm. She also looked radiant as she smiled at the gathered guests who came for her grandson's wedding. Immediately behind them was Franklin, escorting Clarisse. Mother's Irish first cousin was also all smiles as she walked down the aisle to the strains of "Winter". After them walked Siobhan, and Akira's other children, Ryo's aunts and uncles, along with their spouses.

Already seated in the second row on the right side were their children, Ryo's cousins, which included Emiko's husband and children. Eddie's wife, Akemi sat with the other Japanese guests, that included Dee's friends, and their families. Two more of Mother's first cousins and their spouses also sat in the VIP section, while the rest of the assorted families of Aokis and Lanes sat in the first few rows right behind the VIP section.

# # # # #

Dee and Ryo became aware of the elevator doors opening from the applause of their wedding party. Everyone was gathered around, watching as the grooms had their arms around each other. Flashes went off, as photos were being taken. With big smiles, they quickly hugged tighter, and then hand in hand, they left the elevator.

The hallway was filled with wolf whistles and various other sounds of appreciation for the two handsome grooms in their wedding suits. The grooms were all smiles as they joined their wedding party. They were aware that pictures were still being taken.

Dee felt like a celebrity as they quickly went past each attendant, giving a personal greeting and once again thanking them for being a part of their big day. Ryo maintained a hand on Dee's back as they went to everyone. Dee felt as if his soul was soaring, as if he was invincible and could do anything. Just looking at their wedding party gathered, dressed and ready for the big walk made him feel that way. The men looked dashing in their color coordinated designer tuxedos. Even Ted and Drake looked sharp, for once, their clothes having no wrinkles, not even the smallest. The women were gorgeous, a sea of pastel colors and designer gowns. The bouquets had come out better than Dee had imagined. Everyone was full of smiles and good cheer. The atmosphere was festive.

Dee wanted it to remain that way. Which was why he loved the song they picked for the Processional. Why they worked so hard the night before for the walk. No one was to slowly, solemnly step down the aisle, nor was there any marching. They were going to walk lively, joyfully and hopefully have lots of fun too.

Dee grinned at Ryo, who stood next to him. "Do we have the best looking wedding party, or what?" he asked, loud enough to be heard by everyone.

Ryo nodded. "Oh God, yes. Just goes to show how lucky we are." He smiled at their attendants. "Everyone looks amazing!"

Giggles and thanks went around the wedding party.

Dee glanced over to notice the children from the orphanage and his mouth dropped. "Oh my, they look so adorable," he remarked, moving forward to join the group of children, who stood with a couple of workers from the orphanage, who had helped the little ones get ready in their suite.

"What?" Ryo asked, then looked where Dee was heading. "Aw, would you look at them." He followed Dee over to the children. He watched as Dee spoke to each of them, telling them how wonderful they looked, calling the little girls princesses, and had all the children giggling happily. The children were all happy to make their 'big brother' so happy on his wedding day.

Ryo also told them how great they looked. Each child was holding a cherry blossom branch with unopened blooms. The branches had bells tied and hanging by glittery ribbons in the pastels wedding colors. The girls had flower wreathes in their hair, and the boys had boutonnières like the best men and grooms.

Unable to have all the orphans in the wedding party, Dee had decided to select those between ages of 5 – 13. Mother had agreed with him that the ones under five would grow restless and start to wander and who knew what else young ones were capable of doing during the ceremony. So the children under 5 sat in the VIP section on Dee's side, along with the older ones over 12, as Dee's family. The reason Dee stopped at twelve-years-old was because it came out to an even number of girls and boys.

As soon as the happy couple finished getting hugs from the children, they were escorted to start lining up by the door to the atrium, as they were to lead off the Processional.

Dee and Ryo turned to find the more immediate child in their family come up to them, all grins.

Ryo gazed at his son, who wore the same style tuxedo as the groomsmen, his vest and tie being the same dark blue as Carol and Diana's gowns. Carol was with him, wide eyes fixed on the two grooms, smiling brightly.

"You look very handsome today, Biks," Ryo said with a smile. He smiled more, as Dee chuckled with amused, when Bikky blushed.

"Hey kiddo," Dee stated. "You have the looks, nothing to blush about flaunting it."

"Yeah well…" Bikky looked at his two fathers. "You guys look… different. But a good different. Especially you, Dee. And wow… white?"

Dee grinned, standing tall and proud in his wedding suit. "White for me, yes. I liked the style of the suit, but somehow the darker colors just didn't have the right look as white. So here I am."

Carol giggled. "I doubt anyone will believe that you're a virgin, Dee."

Ryo could not help but snort at her teasing.

"Yeah, Dee," Bikky laughed. "Especially with this," he gently poked Dee in the belly.

"Hey now," he warned the giggling girl. He glanced down at Bikky, trying to grab his son's retreating hand. "Bikky." He chuckled. "That's not the look I mean." His eyes fell on Carol. "And speaking of looks, you look gorgeous, Princess."

"Oh definitely," Ryo agreed. "Did you pick that out on your own?"

Carol nodded. "It was hard, with all those gorgeous gowns to choose from. But this is it."

"It's beautiful, Carol," Ryo said. "Bikky, doesn't she look amazing today?

Carol wore a dark blue satin strapless gown, with a shirred bodice that hung over the A-line skirt. The bodice had a pink ribbon weaving in and out down along the left side and tied in a bow at the bottom. The skirt flared out slightly at the bottom.

Ryo nudged Dee when Bikky started to blush, as he stammered something that sounded like, "She always looks amazing."

Dee smirked, reaching out to ruffle Bikky's hair, and stopping himself before he did, realizing he did not want to mess the boy's blonde hair just before they started the ceremony.

The wedding party had already been called to start lining up behind the children. There was excited chatter and laughs as everyone got into place and be ready once the music started and the doors opened.

Dee looked at their wedding party again, smiling in appreciation, as the family was joined by Mother and Elena. The women looked extremely elegant, from the gowns chosen by Ryo and him, to the accessories they had carefully selected. Hair was swept up and held by rhinestone combs and clasps. Make-up was done perfect – looking more on the natural side, enhancing the natural beauty each woman possessed. Dee and Ryo had chosen the same shoes for all the women, in colors to match the gowns. The heels were barely 3 inches, and the style selected not only to go well with all the gowns, but were highly recommended for their comfort.

The pink gowns, which were worn by Julie and Ryo's cousin, Jocelyn MacLean, had A-line skirts which flared at the bottom. The strapless crepe gowns had bodices that gathered and asymmetrical, the left side longer than the right. The two women were matched to walk down the aisle as partners.

Elina and Janet were partnered and in yellow. Janet was all smiles as the gown repair was a success. Both grooms were informed of the drama that unfolded in the groomswomen's suite, but were assured it was all under control, as long as they were allowed the slight delay in proceedings. No one could tell from Janet's high spirits that not very long before, she was in tears, and resigned that she would not be able to participate in the wedding after all.

Their yellow satin gowns were strapless. A-line skirts flared at the bottom. A wide sash in the same color and the material went around below the bust line and gathered on the left side, leaving two wider diagonal panels handing down almost the length of the skirt. The panels fluttered like a trail when the women walked.

Darla and Emiko were in pastel light blue. They had draped necklines in the front and low slung backs. A streamer of chiffon covered the right shoulder, while a thin streamer went across the left shoulder, giving the bodice an asymmetrical one shoulder look. The thin streamer met the wider one mid-back and the two streamers hung down the length of the skirt.

Elisa, the women Dee knew from his days in the orphanage and Karen, who was also a friend of Dee's from his Academy days were selected to wear lavender. The lavender gowns were made of Charmeuse. Their satin gowns had A-line skirts with little flair at the bottom. The bodices were one shouldered, with a rhinestone strap going over the left shoulder and attaching to the lower cut on that side. On the right side at the waist was a gathered panel that hung down almost the length of the skirt. The panel was an extension of the sleeveless shoulder on the right side, hanging down before it was pinned to the waist.

All the gowns were ordered in extra length to give them the extra touch of being formal.

"Are you getting your last long eyeful of female eye candy before getting married?" Dee heard Ryo's teasing voice ask him.

Dee laughed. "I'm just enjoying seeing how beautiful everyone looks. Those gowns are amazing."

Ryo chuckled, hugging Dee. "I can't believe we picked them out." He leaned up to lightly peck Dee's cheek. "And you're allowed to look, as long as that's all you do."

Dee pulled Ryo into a hug. "Aw hell, baby, I hardly notice anyone but you. But that's okay. You can look."

"It's called appreciating beauty," Ryo corrected with a wink.

"Oh yes. The art form and all that. Yup, know all about it." He laughed again as Daniel came up to them.

"That little lady in there can belt out a song, can she?" the wedding choreographer asked them.

"That she can," Dee agreed. "Caroline belongs to the church choir and always gets to sing in the lead female position."

"Not that you would know much about that from experience," Mother said, her eyes glittering as she gazed at her son.

"Well…" Dee shrugged.

"That's okay, Dee. It's my fault that your beliefs are somewhat twisted from what they teach you outside our church. You're a good man with good intentions, and you help others. That's all the faith I expect of you," she said.

Dee smiled at her.

"Are you gentlemen ready? Because Caroline is winding down that beautiful song. The wedding party is all lined up and waiting for the doors to open and…"

"Oh my God, this is it!" Elena squealed, excited, her eyes watering from joy. She hugged Ryo to her. "Come, sweetheart. We need to take our places to make sure our grooms will walk through the door after everyone else."

Mother, Dee and Daniel laughed as Ryo endured his excited aunt's attention. As usual, since they entered the entrance, photos were being taken of the moment.

Dee put his hand on Ryo's shoulder, giving it a loving squeeze. "You better go. Don't worry, Mother and I will be right behind you."

Ryo looked at Dee, smiling lovingly. "Damn, I'm about ready to imitate my crazy aunt here. I love you, Dee. See you at the altar."

"Love you too. Wait for me."

Ryo looked back as he was being dragged by Elena to get into place, as directed by Daniel. He winked at Dee, grinning, as Elena once again unnecessarily dusted off his suit and made sure his tie was straight.

Mother laughed, hugging Dee to her. "Oh darling! I'm so excited!"

Dee felt all the joy of the moment bubble up as they were able to hear Caroline finish her song, and the applause. As they took their place behind Ryo and Elena, Dee looked down the long line of their wedding party. He was astounded and amazed that they had such a big wedding party. Yet, Sharon had assured them for the number of guests at the ceremony, along with it being set as formal, it was just right for a family of MacLean stature.

"Once I started to know I wanted to marry Ryo, I never dreamed our wedding would be like this," Dee quietly said to Mother. His voice broke. He didn't want to be quiet. He wanted to yell at the top of his lungs and let everyone know how wonderful he felt at that moment.

As they heard Caroline say the words that would prepare the guests for the start of the Processional, Dee could not help it. With a huge grin, he yelled out, "I'M GETTING MARRIED!! TO RYO!!" and let out a whoop of joy.

Ryo added his own whoop to Dee's. The wedding party burst into laughter, clapping and cheering the grooms on.

Then they were given the clue to be ready. The atrium was now quiet as the Processional song was cued up to be played from speakers placed for the best surround sound effect.

At any second the music would start, and the doors would open.

Then a wedding party in very high spirits and full of excitement would start the procession down the center aisle.

Followed by two very ecstatic grooms anxious to meet the woman waiting in the front, who would legally marry them.

# # # # #

Berkeley Rose watched the procession down the center aisle of the closest living relatives other than the two women who were to walk the grooms down the aisle. He had to admit that Ryo and Dee had planned a very upscale, elegant wedding. It was as Ryo kept bragging at the bachelor party, there was a magical quality in the air, and the décor played a big part in getting that feeling across. From the various lighting hanging from the glass ceiling, to the arches of wedding flowers that were set every fifth row, down to the columns between the arches with beautiful floral arrangements of calla lilies and blue irises with large hurricane lamps set in the center and candles flickering within.

Starting from five rows in, in the middle of the center aisle, there was a Japanese style wooden bridge that crossed over to the platform where the altar was set up. There was enough space on each side of the bridge for someone to pass. Rose figured there was a reason for that. The odd looking altar was under a square canopy decorated with flowers in the same design as the arches going down the aisle. On each corner hung ribbons in wedding colors, and some Japanese and Celtic good luck charms. Behind the back of the trellis stood a red torii gate, and beyond that, the view of New York City, including the Empire State building.

When he looked to his left, past the two other sections of seats that were filled, he was able to see the taller buildings of the World Financial Center, Battery Park City and New Jersey beyond light trimmed ceiling to floor windows. On his left, was Brooklyn and a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge could be seen from the northeast corner. No matter what view, the softly falling snow just added to the magical quality of the inside.

He had been to two weddings in this location before, and as beautiful as they had been, Ryo and Dee's wedding so far surpassed both in beauty and elegance. Being it was Ryo's wedding, he was not surprised. He smiled, wondering what Dee, who everyone knew would consider himself a street rat, was thinking of what they had planned for their big day. The grooms made it very known that the two of them had planned for this wedding, and Dee usually was the one who found something to toss in for consideration. Much to his surprise, he discovered early during the arrival reception that it was Dee who selected Vivaldi to be the main choice of the classical music played. He never knew that Dee enjoyed listening to Vivaldi while relaxing.

This was it, he thought to himself, looking around again. If he did not yet, it was time to let Ryo go. The part-Japanese man belonged to Dee. Rose already knew that, but upon arrival of the atrium, it finally hit him. Ryo was getting married to Dee, and even he could not deny that Dee was good for the part-Japanese man. With a baby on the way.

It was definitely time to say goodbye to his fantasies of one day finally having Ryo MacLean for his own. He knew he could never give him everything Dee had done – not where it truly mattered to Ryo. He was not sure if he was able to fully commit himself, had he ever had the chance to get Ryo. It was best the way things turned out. Dee Laytner loved Ryo with his heart and soul. It was hard not to notice that once the happy couple finally came out of hiding their relationship. There was no one else except the other.

"You truly do belong to each other," he stated sadly, and not as the insult he had passed to Dee in the past. Of course, he had meant as work partners at the time, since he was not supposed to be aware of the real relationship between the two. Yet he knew. He had known shortly after they had become lovers. Something changed between them, and Rose was certain he knew what it was. In conversation since they admitted being together, he knew he was right. He was hurt to discover that Diana had known all along, from the day after the two partners had first slept together. It was Diana who played a major role in Ryo's decision to finally consummate their odd courting ritual of almost two years. Which was why both men had asked her to be their Maid of Honor. The grooms wanted to express their gratitude of the role she played almost three years before, wanting her to have a major part of their wedding.

The quartet had stopped playing "Winter", and the doors to the hallway had been longed closed. From what Rose knew of the planning, that meant the wedding party was on their way up to gather in the entrance and get ready for their walk down the aisle, preceding the main event. Another song started up and Rose realized that among the instruments was a koto player. The song sounded traditional Japanese. Rose checked the program, noting the next song under "Prelude" was a love song from a Kabuki production.

The excitement inside was mounting as the song continued, the guests knowing that the next song would be the last before the big moment. Despite the cool air flowing through the atrium, that made the wind chimes at the alter chime gently, guests used the fans that they found on their seats as a ceremony favor.

Rose picked up his fan and stared at it. "L-M" stood out in dark blue among the wavy stripes on the fan, next to it their names, "Ryo & Dee" with "March 11, 2006" under their names. There were decorative scrolls and dragonflies patterns in contrasting colors to the stripes.

If it was not for the fact that he became fond of the men and women under him at the 27th precinct, it should have meant it was time for him to transfer out of the city and go back to Upstate NY, where he had called home. That was the past. He found he enjoyed living in the hub of the most exciting city in the United States, rather than visiting from Upstate. He found New York to be more exciting than even Los Angeles. New York had its share of celebrities living there, of movies and television shows being filmed. He never considered himself a country boy. He enjoyed his lifestyle of sophisticated city man and found he now called New York City home. Knowing that Diana was planning to relocate from Los Angeles to New York City helped in making the decision to stay. He knew Diana wanted to be closer to Ryo and Dee once the baby was born, to spoil it as an aunt.

Perhaps once she finally made that move and settled in, he should start considering taking another step in their relationship. They had been dating exclusively whenever Diana was in New York City since Dee and Ryo's New Year's Eve party. However, when she was back in Los Angeles, they were open to date others. That could all change once Diana was living in New York.

How was he so blind to see what was there in front of him all this time? All the planning and scheming to get Ryo, when the other man was never his, and there was Diana, just waiting for her chance for him to notice her.

He was a fool. It was time to stop being one. This wedding was the perfect time to make it happen.

The music stopped. The excitement grew as a teenager of around 16 walked over to a side platform on the northeast side. She was one of Mother Maria's orphans. According to the program, she was to sing the final song before the processional started. The quartet started up again, this time accompanied by a piano and the dulcimer player, as the young lady started to sing a Celtic classic, "With All My Heart". Her voice was clear and strong. She sang like an angel, bringing tears to some of the women's eyes, if the lifting of handkerchiefs to dab daintily at eyes were any indication.

When she was done, she smiled out to the crowd as applause showed the guests' appreciation of the beauty of her singing. "Ladies and Gentlemen," she said, holding her hands out to quiet the guests, "welcome to the wedding of Ryo MacLean and Dee Laytner. It's time to get this party started." She smiled again and left the platform and joined the older orphans who sat in the VIP section of the left side.

From what Rose could tell, the left side was Dee's guests and family, as well as Ryo's Japanese relatives. The right side was the MacLean family and friends. Friends and acquaintances of both Ryo and Dee sat wherever they found a seat, regardless of sides. The closer family members from all three families sat together in the VIP section on the left side.

All heads turned to the back of the atrium and the door when suddenly all the lighting, except for the candles went out.

This was it. The sound of laughter and excitement came from the other side of the door following muffled yells, as the guests fell quiet, waiting for the big moment to finally arrive.

The ceremony was about to begin.

# # # # #

* * *

A/N: Some quick notes to comments in the last couple of days. I'm hoping that by the end of this weekend, Dee and Ryo will be married. I know some of you are growing impatient, but I didn't want to just focus on Dee and Ryo on their wedding day. The guests make most of the wedding, as anyone who had spend large amounts of money will tell you. A bride will say it was because it was her day, but the bottom line is to show off to friends and family, to make the guests have a wonderful time, because very happy guests make for much more praise to the bride (or in this case, the grooms). And sometimes this story will take a step back from the action or POV coming from Dee and/or Ryo, and focus on how they are viewed by those around them. I thought a wedding day would be a great time for that, particularly with so many people from different walks of life present.

I have decided that there will be a sequel, taking place at least 3 years after the final chapter of TUIII. Of course, I need to write TUIII first. GRINS... However, I already know that besides revisiting the happy expanded Laytner-MacLean family, but there will be another pregnancy – um, make that two pregnancies involved in the story. One of them will NOT be Dee or Ryo, but will be someone close to them (do I already hear squeeing?).

I'm making this short and sweet so I can get the next chapter ready for posting. Later tonight, there should be another chapter up. Yes, that will finally include the ceremony. Tomorrow I want to have one, maybe two more up, at least. Depends on how much time I get to sit down and edit and make changes. All these recent chapters have not been through beta yet, just edited by me. Once I finish posting TUII in entirety, I will go back and update with the beta chapters. I tend to sit on chapters longer, even if Dawn is lightning fast with getting her copy back to me. So in hopes of getting this story posted quicker, I'm foregoing beta for now. So please forgive any huge glaring mistakes – they are all mine.

Hope you're enjoying!


	24. The Wedding Part 2

All eyes were on the doors in the back, the guests waiting in the candlelight

**The Unexpected Chapter 24**

**The Ceremony**

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 24 – The Wedding, Part 2

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Just a reminder about whenever Akira, Ryo's grandmother, uses Dee's name. The literal translation of the katakana for Dee is 'Dei'. There's a slight difference in infliction when saying 'Dee' and 'Dei' using Japanese pronunciation, even if they both more or less come out to 'Dee'. Akira and the rest of Ryo's family speak English well enough to make the difference. Thus most of Ryo's Japanese relatives call him 'Dee'. However, Akira does not, even if she could. She prefers it, and her special way of bringing Dee into the family. So whenever she is speaking, you will notice that Dee's name is spelled 'Dei'.

So I'm going to attempt a posting marathon over the weekend and see if we can get past this wedding. The Unexpected II is complete in draft form. I don't plan to start writing part III until some time in September, I think. (I'm going to take a break in August to write some more Torchwood fics, including a FAKE/Torchwood crossover with the most talented Gracie Musica, over at our LiveJournals).

# # # # # # # #

All eyes were on the doors in the back, the guests waiting in the candlelight. Excitement was heavy in the air. Very few faces on the MacLean side looked indifferent or if they rather be elsewhere. Much to Estelle's delight, the overall feeling from her family's side of the atrium was excitement and anticipation. The majority of those who were strictly set against the marriage did not show. On Dee's side of the atrium there was enthusiasm and delight. Friends and acquaintances of both grooms, who were scattered among all the sections added to the mounting anticipation.

The first notes of the selected song started, just a violin for the first few bars before the pick-up began. The next few bars were whimsical as the music with full orchestra built to it's tempo. In those bars, the lights in the arches went on, starting in the back and lighting one after another to the front in quick succession. While the arches were being lit, lights along the aisle went on, following the pattern of the arches, lagging only slightly behind.

The doors opened and as the netted lights of pastel colors started to come on, starting from the center aisle and spreading to the sides, the children merrily made their way down the aisle. There were eight pairs of children with girls on the left and boys on the right. Some skipped along the way. All the children were smiling and laughing, enjoying the moment. They were a rainbow of colors, with two girls each in pink, lavender, yellow and light blue satin dresses. The skirts were full ballroom style, with two tiers. The slightly ruffled top tear was split, opening in the front and showing the lower skirt. The bodices were sleeveless and there were clusters of flowers the same color as the dress on the waist, just above where the top tier of the skirt met. All the girls had their hair down with wreaths of flowers crowing their heads. The boys, like the groomsmen, had black suits, with vests and ties to match the color of their partner. They walked fast and then as the melody changed at about 30 seconds into the song, they were already halfway down the aisle. They started to shake the cherry blossom branches in time with the music, making the bells ring to the music.

When the Processional started, there were gasps of pleased surprise and murmurs of approval. Guests watched with smiles on their faces. There were some "aw"s and "ooh"s heard. Just about everyone found the children delightful and adorable.

As the bells first started to ring, JJ and Drake came through the door, heading off the procession of groomsmen and women. JJ was bouncy and excited as he made his way down, along the white runner with the blue trimming on the edges. Drake felt uncomfortable, fearing he'd make a fool of himself in front of all the rich people of not only Ryo's family, but Dee's, as he had met the Lanes the night before at the rehearsal dinner. Rich families aside, Chief, Rose and most of the others they worked with who were in attendance would never let him live it down. Despite his anxiety, he was happy for his two friends and in a great mood, which helped in his not showing any of his fears. They had managed to make it to the wedding in time, and they were going to keep the events of earlier that day from Ryo and Dee until the happy couple returned from their honeymoon. It turned into a good day for Drake, and he planned to enjoy the rest of the night and all the wedding festivities Dee and Ryo had lined up. Both men wore boutonnières with a pink Asiatic lily and blue thistle, the pink flower to match their vests and ties.

Immediately behind them followed Elina and Janet. Both women had bright sunny smiles as they went down the aisle. They clutched their bouquets, heads held high. From the looks on the faces of guests they passed, they had caught the attention of those who were interested in the fashion of the wedding party. Sounds of approval and appreciation followed as they walked.

If the guests were expecting all men and women to be dressed alike, they were pleasantly surprised with the coordination and styling of the wedding party. Marty and Darla followed the two women in yellow. Like all the groomsmen, Marty wore a black Italian tuxedo. His vest and tie was light blue to match Darla's gown. His boutonnière was a blue iris and blue thistle.

Adriano and Pedro looked as suave and stylish as the men before them, and just as excited as JJ. Adriano practically bounced his way down, with Pedro stealing glances at his lover and laughing. Their vests and ties were lavender, and had boutonnières of purple freesia and blue thistle.

Julie and Jocelyn caused more murmurs of approval from the fashion conscious female guests in their pink gowns.

Ted and Jim were next with yellow vests and ties, and yellow Asiatic lilies and blue thistle. Jim played off sophisticated as he walked. Ted glanced at him and shook his head. Leaning just a little to Jim as they walked, Ted said just loud enough for Jim to hear, "Dude, just don't expect me to dance with you tonight." Jim laughed, Ted joining him.

Emiko and Tsubasa wore blue. Ryo's Japanese first cousins that he was closest to were in high spirits and very proud to be part of their cousin's wedding.

Elisa and Karen finished the section of Groomspeople, dressed in lavender. Like everyone before them, they were having the time of their lives, judging by the smiles on their faces.

The entire wedding party beamed as they made their way in time to the lively paced music. To the guests, it was obvious it a true celebration, festive and exciting as the wedding party walked with a flair, taking normal strides as they smiled and laughed with delight while they made their way toward the front. Sounds from the guests told them that everyone was enjoying themselves. There were even some applause as they passed.

The children had already made their way to the front, passing along the sides of the bridge. They made their way to stand around the canopy on the outer edges, the girls on one side, the boys on the other. The groomspeople where halfway down the aisle by the next change of melody. The guests never realized that only 25 seconds had gone by before the next two went through the door.

The atrium was filled with aw's again as Dani and Stefen came through the door and started their walk. Dani's light blue dress had a full ballroom two tiered skirt. The top tier was satin and scalloped, the edges done in appliqué of beads and silvery thread. The bottom tier was tulled. The sleeveless bodice had a portrait neckline. The shoulders and center of the bodice were appliquéd in the same fashion as her skirt. She wore little blue lace gloves. Her hair was pushed back in front with a flower hair band and hung in the back in a cascade of curls. Stefen's suit was the same style as the other boys, his vest and tie matching his sister's dress.

Dani held a smaller version of the women's bouquets, while Stefen had a bubble maker, leaving a trail of bubbles behind them as they walked.

They were only a quarter of the way down the aisle when the melody changed off again, once again having a whimsical quality to it. With the change in music, Bikky and Carol entered, as it was their turn to go down the aisle.

Carol looked glamorous, and Bikky was proud to be her date that day – and just about every other day. It was plain to see Carol was excited as she walked in time to the music, a little bounce to her step. She carried a basket of calla lilies and blue irises.

Bikky looked to be the happiest boy on the planet. He did not bother to play off his tough street thug appearance he normally hid behind. He was too happy for the two men he called his fathers to try. Although they were already a family, both men having adopted him and they had been all living under the same roof for nine months, he felt after that day they would really become a family. A few months after that, their family would grow when his sister or brother will be born. He had to admit he also enjoyed being a part of all the fancy trimmings surrounding him. He didn't even mind the suit, especially since thankfully, as formal as the wedding was, Ryo and Dee opted for ties instead of bow ties, going for a more modern look in formal. And he had Carol at his side. He glanced at her, smiling more in appreciation of how beautiful she looked in her expensive gown.

Carol caught his glance and smiled at him. Bikky smiled back before both teens went back to concentrating on making sure they kept the upbeat timing of the Processional.

Dani and Stefen were now just past halfway down the aisle, the groomspeople filing along each side of the bridge toward the canopy. Once again the music changed. The excitement level of in the atrium rose, because they knew the two grooms were almost about to make their grand entrance.

No one was sure how they were going to do it. For most of their guests, this was the first gay wedding they had attended and how no idea how it was worked. Seeing only just the two best men at the altar, it was obvious that both Ryo and Dee intended to make the walk down the aisle. Those who read the program knew they were being escorted by Elena and Mother, but not how. Would they walk in together, or one behind the other? If the latter, who would go first?

Those who knew Dee were willing to bet he would be the first one to enter, given the aspect of the bride enters last in a traditional wedding. Not that anyone saw Ryo as feminine, but Dee's friends thought they knew the dark haired groom well enough that he would not want to enter last. It did not matter if he was pregnant. There were just some things Dee Laytner was consistent about. Those who knew Ryo better knew the part-Japanese groom was easy going enough to go with whatever his handsome soon to be husband would decide.

# # # # #

Dee stood in the hallway, moving along as the wedding party filed out into the atrium in time to the music. He watched the door get closer and closer. In a matter of seconds he would be making his entrance and on his way down the center aisle to finally be married to Ryo.

As if reading his mind, Ryo turned his head and smiled at Dee. "I love you," he mouthed.

"Love you too," Dee mouthed back.

The music filled the entire top level atrium, including in the entranceway. From the moment it started up and he heard the reactions from their guests, Dee wished there was a way he could watch the entire processional, from start to finish.

"It sounds like it's going lovely," Elena exclaimed, hugging Ryo.

Mother stood next to Dee, her arm hooked around his, dabbing her eyes with her hankie. "Yes, it does," she commented with a smile. "It's everything I've dreamed of for my boy, but feared I could never give it to him." She dabbed at her eyes again.

Dee smiled at her. His own eyes, shining more an emerald green, were glistening with tears, but they stayed where they were. He placed his free hand on his bump and gently rubbed it.

Mother leaned up, closer to him. "Are you okay, Dee?"

Dee nodded. "Yeah. Just butterflies. And a baby kicking." He chuckled. "Easy there, chibi. It'll be our turn soon enough," he softly said, still rubbing his swollen tummy.

Ryo whipped his head around as Diana approached the doorway, Daniel holding an arm in front of her until just the right moment. The wedding choreographer held a stop watch and was checking the time, sparing an eye to look inside to assure himself all was proceeding like it had the night before.

Ryo glanced at Dee, who smiled back at him. "Chibi's very excited. So is Daddy."

"So is Papa," Ryo replied as Daniel lifted his hand, giving Diana the signal to start walking through the door.

"Aw!" Elena exclaimed, smiling at Ryo, then at Dee. "Too precious."

"Ohmigod!" Dee gasped as it was Ryo and Elena's turn to stop near the doorway. Daniel held his hand out again, waiting until it was their cue. "This is it!"

"Yes, Dee," Mother laughed. "It's happening."

"It really is happening," Ryo said before Daniel started to give him to cue to get ready. Ryo reached back to quickly squeeze Dee's free hand. He turned back to find Daniel lifting his hand.

"And… congratulations on your most amazing wedding day," Daniel said, signaling Ryo and Elena to start walking.

# # # # #

Diana entered the atrium all smiles, holding her flowers and appearing like a beauty queen. She felt the excitement in the air and it was growing. As much as there were murmurs and some applause as she passed, she knew she was not the main attraction to this delightfully festive occasion. She was just the warm up. The signal that the two men everyone had come to see and pay well wishes to were right behind her.

She looked ahead and noticed the majority of the wedding party was already lined up around the canopy, with Dani and Stefen approaching the bridge. Bikky and Carol were almost halfway to the altar. The one thing that stood out most in her mind at that moment was that she had never seen Bikky walk so tall and proud. He held his head up, but not in the challenging way of the street. That was one happy boy.

She was nine rows down when she heard the change of melody again and braced herself for the guests response when the first of the two grooms made his grand entrance.

Ryo entered the atrium with Elena on his arm. "It looks gorgeous!" Elena exclaimed as they took their first step. Ryo knew Elena meant the wedding party in procession, and the lighting which looked different without the sun shining down and the overhead light fixtures on. Now it was just the lighting put up for the wedding, with the candles on the columns going up along the center aisle flickering that was used, with the last of the lighted sky above, streaked in vast hues of purples, pinks, yellows and blues, softly muted by the falling snow. It was almost as if the sunset had coordinated itself with the theme colors.

He did not actually hear the end of her exclamation as the guests were all standing, starting to applaud as Ryo started his walk toward the altar with his aunt. He also heard gasps of surprise and he knew it came from him entering first. He could not help but smirk a little, feeling proud and finding he could love Dee a little more for allowing him to walk first.

'Just wait until they see Dee in his white suit,' he thought as he smiled out at their guests, acknowledging some with a slight tilt of his head. He was aware of Elena lifting her other hand to her face. He looked at his aunt to find her dabbing a stray tear. She was all smiles. She looked over at Ryo, knowing she was caught. Ryo winked at her and they both chuckled. So far, he was doing fine ignoring the lump in his throat. He could only imagine what Dee felt like. Ryo did not feel a baby kicking, but he had enough butterflies of his own in his stomach to feel like something was fluttering.

He thought that when the moment finally came, the walk down the aisle would be surreal to him. As he walked with Elena under the lighted arches of flowers, and past the marble columns with the flowers and hurricane lamps, everything was crystal clear to him. He swore he could make out every smile, every wet eye in the room as he passed. His mind captured who was wearing what. It was as if his mind was photographing each second, everything he saw, even peripherally, for him to remember with vivid clarity for the rest of his life.

The only surreal thing to him was that time seemed to slow down. He could hardly believe it had been already eleven seconds when the melody changed again, taking on a softer, sweeter strain. He only knew it was eleven seconds because he knew that was how long they had from the time Ryo entered the atrium to when Dee did.

As the music changed, he heard more gasps, cheers and applause. He could not help but look back and steal a glance of Dee as he came through the doorway with Mother on his arm. Dee's Adam apple bobbed as the crowd welcomed the second groom. As he forced himself to look forward and watch his footing, he caught Bikky's eye as he started to walk along the bridge. The boy immediately whipped his head forward when he slightly bumped into the bridge. Ryo chuckled a little at his son, shaking his head slightly in amusement.

# # # # #

Dee's mouth fell open as he got to glance inside the atrium and at the proceedings before him. Mother squeezed his arm. He noticed all eyes were on Ryo as he passed with Elena and once he passed guests, they were starting to look back, straining for the second groom to enter.

"Breathe, Dee," Mother instructed as Daniel started to lift his hand.

"And… congratulations, Dee. Enjoy a long and happy marriage," Daniel stated, giving them to signal to go.

"Oh God," Dee muttered as they took their first steps. He almost stopped and froze at the reaction of everyone in the atrium. People were whistling, cheering, clapping and some of their friends were even yelling out encouragements. He felt the atmosphere of the atrium to be of high spirits, excitement and love. The only thing that made him keep walking and not stop was his need to follow the man in front of him, looking so fine in his charcoal gray tuxedo. Dee needed to follow him and at the end of that walk, marry him. And then live happily ever after.

Before Dee put his attention on the excited crowd there to wish them well, he could not help one more glance at Ryo's ass, enjoying how it looked in that suit. As his attention went to smiling out to their guests and acknowledging them, especially the more enthusiastic ones, he knew with every step he was walking toward his destiny.

He was meant to be with Ryo. It was a long hard road to finally get Ryo as his lover. By the time Ryo first told Dee that he loved him, Dee already knew he wanted to be more than just a lover. This wedding was only to affirm what they had already settled into. Ryo was his life, his other half of his soul. He knew Ryo felt the same about him. When they moved in together, it was because it was the next natural step to take. They found they could no longer say good night and sleep alone, seeing the other at sometime the next day. They wanted to spend every day together, sleep every night next to the other. Getting married was the next logical step, even if Dee had trouble believing it was actually happening.

He looked ahead, managing to force his vision past Ryo, to the rest of the wedding party. Everyone was already in their positions around the canopy, except for Diana, who was a few rows ahead of Ryo, starting to veer off to walk along the bridge. Suddenly he had no problem believing it was happening. It felt very real, and so very right to Dee. He did not even seem to mind when he had to reach up to wipe a tear that finally slipped past his eyes.

As they got to the foot of the bridge, Ryo and Elena stopped. Elena started to hug Ryo. "Ryo, sweetie! I'm so happy for you. Now go and get yourself hitched to that fine husband of yours," she gushed.

Ryo wiped a tear from his aunt's cheek, smiling at her. "I intend to, Aunt Elena. And I never intend to let him go."

"Of course, sweetheart." She glanced back. "Oh, speaking of the handsome devil." She smiled as Dee and Mother approached the bridge.

Ryo and Dee's eyes caught and their wide sunny smiles got brighter.

Elena was hugging him again. "I'm so proud of you, Ryo. And I know so are your parents."

"Thank you," Ryo replied, turning back to hug his aunt again.

Dee and Mother came up to the bridge and stopped just behind Ryo and Elena. Mother reached up to hug Dee. "Oh my baby boy! I want you to be happy for the rest of your life, and I know you will, because you'll have your wonderful Ryo."

Dee laughed, sounding a little choked up. "Yes. Yes, I am." He hugged his mother, giving her a kiss. "I love you, Mother. Thank you for everything you've put up with me in the past, and seeing me through for this to happen."

"You're my miracle. You deserve it," she replied, hugging him again and kissing his cheek. With a bright smile, she released Dee and then went over to Ryo for a quick hug. "You take care of my darling boy, you hear," she said, kissing Ryo's cheek when he leaned down.

"That's what I intend to do, ma'am," Ryo replied with a laugh. He hugged his mother-in-law. "I'm going to love him for the rest of my life."

"I know, you will."

While Mother hugged Ryo, Elena went over to Dee. "Sweetness, this is it. I know you and Ryo are going to last a lifetime." She hugged her very soon-to-be-nephew-in-law tightly.

"I know it too," Dee said, excited, hugging her back. He kissed her forehead. "And again, thank you for accepting us, Aunt Elena."

"How can I not?" She looked up at him with tears streaking her cheeks. "Go get married." With a smile she walked away from Dee, Mother at her side. Rick and Franklin were waiting on the side to escort the women to their chairs. As they made their way to their seats in the front row, Elena could not help but notice the three empty chairs, off to the side, directly facing the side of the canopy. They were designated for loved ones not able to be there. Ryo's parents, and Jess.

Ryo grinned at Dee, stepping up to the small platform that was the base of the bridge and held his hand out for Dee. With a smile of his own, Dee took Ryo's hand and joined the man he loved on the platform. Together, they stood, hand in hand, taking one last look around the atrium, waving to their guests, amid more applause and cheers.

"Let's do this," Ryo said, and took a step forward.

To cheering and applause, the two men walked over the Japanese bridge. By the time they stepped off the platform on the other side, to stand before the canopy, the music started to wind down.

It was the longest and happiest four minutes in their lives so far.

Their officiate entered the canopy from the side, coming from behind the wedding party on that side. She wore a long red robe, with a hood. Behind her were four others who stood on the other side of the altar.

Some shocked gasps were heard, but not sounding threatening.

The woman made some gestures to the altar and then turned to face Ryo and Dee. She lifted her head, to reveal an older woman, with auburn hair. She smiled out past Ryo and Dee to their guests, seeming to encompass all with a glance.

"Welcome everyone," she started, her voice picking up on the microphones overhead. "And on behalf of Ryo and Dee, we thank everyone for sharing this most joyous joining. A little about myself, and how I ended up with the honor here today. I am Lady Stephanie. I had worked for Mother Maria's orphanage for a few years sometime back." She gazed over to the woman who did not look so much like a nun, and more like a proud mother, weeping with happiness at her son's wedding. She sat next to Elena, who sat next to her mother. "Dee was ten when I first started to work there. After I left, I stayed in touch with Mother Maria and Dee. Basically I've watched him grow from a boy to the fine man standing here." She smiled at Dee. "Speaking to Dee, I have no doubt of his love for Ryo. And as I got to know Ryo, I know there's no one else for him but Dee. I was honored when they came to me, and asked to perform this ceremony for them.

"Today, Dee and Ryo have chosen a Handfasting for their wedding ceremony. I am glad, because it suits them and the special love between the two men."

Amused, she glanced over to the first row where the family sat, because a squeal of delight came from Siobhan when handfasting was mentioned. Clarisse was smiling more, nodding her approval at their choice. Stephanie knew Mother Maria's family were of Celtic Pagan roots, and they were excited that Dee had decided to have his marriage ceremony in the traditional style of the Lanes.

"I will not force anyone to believe in anything that goes against their beliefs," Lady Stephanie stated. "However, I think everyone here believes in the magick of love. Especially when a love creates a special magick without much effort from a couple, except loving each other. This is what I feel when I am around Ryo and Dee. This is what I ask everyone to feel and believe in as these two fine gentlemen take their vows." She paused, looking out to the guests. Some looked slightly uncomfortable, others looked excited, as if they knew what they were about to witness. Most of the guests looked intrigued. She quickly assessed that as far as most of the guests went, as long as Ryo and Dee ended the day married, it did not matter which method they chose.

Smiling out at the guests again, she said, "So, without further ado, let us start."

She had to pause again, smiling wider as there were some applause and the excitement started to grow again. She thought that it was a shame how most of the guests did not realize what a beautiful magick their enthusiasm created and how it lent power to Ryo and Dee's joining. Not that the happy couple needed any help, but it never hurt when there was a supplement.

She smiled again at Dee and Ryo, then took a deep breath.

"Know now, before you go further," she started to intone, "that since your lives have crossed into this life you have formed ties between each other. With full awareness, know that within this sacred space, you are declaring your intent to be handfasted before your friends and family."

Ryo's breath caught, suddenly overwhelmed with the moment. It was only a few months ago that he was still hiding from his aunt and uncle. At the time, he thought he would never dare tell his grandparents, or the rest of his family. Except for Mother, Diana and some friends both him and Dee got to know together and felt comfortable about, he hid from friends too. And from co-workers and bosses, but that had been Dee's decision too. They wanted to remain partners at work, and odds were once their relationship was public knowledge, they would be split up.

Now he was standing before the canopy he was to be married under, in front of all of his family, and relatives, along with Dee's. Their friends and co-workers were scattered throughout the sections. He had noticed Chief and his wife as Ryo came down the aisle, and in the 3rd row was Commissioner Rose. Almost 300 people were there to watch him and Dee get married. Ryo knew he would have still been standing there with Dee if most of their friends and family did not support him. He would have married Dee anyway. The idea that so many people said yes, showed up and most of them gave total support was more than he had imagined. It made him feel more proud than he already felt.

He felt Dee's eyes on him, and he smiled at Dee, trying not to wipe at his eyes, that were starting to sting. Dee returned the smile.

"The heat of the hearts' passion, the light created by both, to lighten the darkest of times," Stephanie continued to intone, raising her hands. She gazed at Dee. "Do you, Dee Lane Laytner, come to this union in free will?"

Dee nodded, swallowing. He took a step forward to stand just before the step up to the platform. "Yes, I come in free will," he replied.

"Enter, please."

Murmurs were heard around the atrium as Dee took a step up onto the platform.

Stephanie smiled at Ryo. "Do you, Randy Ryo MacLean, come to this union in free will?"

Ryo took a step forward to stand just before the step to the platform. "Yes, I come in free will," Ryo replied, smiling up at Dee, who was looking back at him.

"Enter, please."

Dee held out his hand and Ryo took it as he stepped up to once again stand next to Dee.

"Who bears witness to this union?" Stephanie asked, looking around.

"We do," the wedding party replied in unison. "We come to share the joy of this union."

Stephanie's coven members walked from behind the altar, carrying cords. They set them on the altar. Each of the coven members took position at a different corner of the canopy.

Stephanie turned to face the altar. With her hands over the cords, she spoke. "These are the cords of love, the ties that bind." She faced Ryo and Dee again. "Will these cords be accepted in free will and love?"

Together, Ryo and Dee answered, "Yes." Both men's voices seem to crack a little from emotion.

She gestured for the couple to come closer. Looking solemn, she looked at Dee again. "Dee, will you cause Ryo pain?"

Dee swallowed. "I may," he replied.

"Is it your intent?"

Dee shook his head firmly. "No."

Stephanie smiled kindly at Dee, then at Ryo. "Ryo, will you cause Dee pain?"

"I may."

"Is it your intent."

His eyes on Dee, he shook his head. "No."

Stephanie smiled. Looking at both men, she asked, "Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it?"

"Yes," came the reply in unison. Their eyes met.

Drake and JJ left their places to join those before the altar. Stephanie picked up an orange cord and handed it to JJ. Looking out at the guests, she stated, "So the binding is made. Please join your left hands."

Dee and Ryo turned to face each other, and Ryo took Dee's left hand in his. JJ draped the cord over the joined hands, smiling brightly at first Dee, then Ryo. "Enjoy," he said low. Drake loosely tied the cord as the couple smiling in thanks to their friends. The two men went back to their places.

"Ryo," Stephanie said, a little loud, as she noticed the two men seemed to be spellbound as they gazed in the other's eyes, with big smiles on their faces. When Ryo turned his head slightly toward her, she asked, "Will you share Dee's laughter."

"I love Dee's laughter," Ryo said. "I mean, yes."

Chuckles and squeals came from the guests. Dee laughed.

Stephanie giggled a little too. "Dee, will you share Ryo's laughter?"

"Of course," Dee replied. "Yes."

"Will both of you look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?"

"Yes," came the reply from the two men, once again their gazed locked.

The High Priestess picked up a yellow cord as Elina and Janet came forward. Elina received the cord from Stephanie. "And so the binding is made," she intoned, and gestured for Elina to drape the cord over the two clasped hands. Janet tied the cord, and the women went back to their places.

"Dee, will you burden Ryo?"

"I may," Dee replied softly.

"Is that your intent?"

"No. Never."

"Ryo, will you burden Dee?"

"I may."

"Is that your intent?"

Ryo shook his head firmly. "No."

"Will you share the burdens of each other so that your spirits may grow in this union?"

"Yes," they replied in unison again.

Adriano and Pedro came over as Stephanie picked up a brown cord.

"And so the binding is made."

Adriano took the cord and draped it over their hands, joining the other two cords. Pedro set to tying it. Pedro gave Dee a teasing grin before they returned to their places.

Dee laughed. Ryo caught the meaning as well and snorted, giving Dee a wicked grin, which made Dee laugh more.

Stephanie clasped her hands before her, looking intently at both men with appreciation. She felt the magick pouring from them. Their love was a most wonderful energy.

The guests stared on with rapt fascination, most of them smiling at the proceedings. For many it was a different type of ceremony, and a very beautiful one.

"Ryo," Stephanie asked, her voice full of the delight she felt. "Will you share Dee's dreams?"

"Of course. Yes." Ryo smiled brightly at Dee.

"Dee, will you share Ryo's dreams?"

Dee nodded, his eyes starting to water as he gazed at Ryo. "Oh, yes I will."

Stephanie shook her head amused and smiled. "Will you dream together to create new realities and hope?"

"Yes!" came from both men.

Dee placed his right hand on his swell, rubbing gently. "Sorry, excited baby," he mumbled.

Ryo's smile was beautiful as his eyes swept down from Dee's face to fix on where Dee's hand was.

Meanwhile, Emiko and Tsubasa had joined them.

"And so the binding is made," Stephanie stated, smiling more.

Tsubasa took a blue cord from Stephanie and draped it over the clasped left hands. It brought Ryo and Dee's attention back to what they were doing. Emiko tied the cord and the two went back to place.

Stephanie tried to look solemn as she asked, "Dee, will you cause Ryo anger?"

Dee gave Ryo a crooked, apologetic smile. "I may," he replied, seriously.

"Is that your intent?"

"No."

"Ryo, will you cause Dee anger?"

Ryo took a heavy breath. "I may." He reflected how the questions seemed right for the ceremony the night before at rehearsal, but suddenly the weight of the more serious questions were hard to admit the answers. It would never be his intention and answered that question sincerely. How could he intentionally hurt or cause pain to Dee?

"Is that your intent?" Stephanie was asking him.

"No!"

"Will you take the heat of your anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?" the High Priestess asked.

Both men nodded, once again gazes locked as they replied together, "We will."

Marty and Darla came forward.

"And so the binding is made," Stephanie said, handing the red cord she had picked up to Marty, who draped it over their hands. Darla tied it.

Dee swallowed thickly, hit with a wave of emotion. He found it incredible and so endearing that they had friends from both work and outside of work, as well as family partake in this special part of a Handfasting. He lifted his right hand to swipe at a stray tear that escaped from his eye.

Stephanie took a step back, smiling at the couple. "Now we get to the good part," she said out to the guests and winked. It earned some chuckles around the atrium. "Ryo, will you honor Dee?"

"I will," Ryo replied, his voice loud and strong.

"Dee, will you honor Ryo?"

"With my heart and soul," Dee replied. He grinned apologetically at Stephanie. "I will," he corrected, using the scripted response.

"I believe you. I believe Ryo will do the same."

Ryo nodded, gazing at Dee with pure adulation and love.

"With a ground of solid foundation, the breath of knowledge, the flame of inspiration and an ocean of understanding, do you, Dee, now pledge yourself to Ryo forever and a day?"

Dee's smile was beautiful as he looked at Ryo. "I do."

Ryo swallowed, finding himself trying not to start weeping with joy as his eyes were fixed on all the beauty that was Dee.

"With a ground of solid foundation, the breath of knowledge, the flame of inspiration and an ocean of understanding, do you, Ryo, now pledge yourself to Dee forever and a day?"

Ryo's smile matched Dee. "I do," he replied.

Stephanie held her hands over the tied, joined hands for a moment, then smiled at the men as she moved back again. "As you are one, yet individuals, please break free from the cords."

With a mental countdown of three that only they shared, Ryo and Dee shook their hands, pulling them apart, loosening the cords. The cords dropped to the ground as their hands separated.

"The cords may look broken, but they will never be broken. From this day on, you will walk as one, yet individuals. That is the blessings of union. Your union, like the rings you will give shortly, is like a circle, everlasting and never broken," Stephanie stated.

Gasps and appreciative murmurs and sounds came from their guests, as they realized where they were in relation to a more tradition ceremony. Women were dabbing their eyes, amazed at the beauty of ceremony and the love between the men. Men grinned in appreciation and fascination.

In the front row on Dee's side, Mother was still wiping her eyes, watching her darling son take his wedding vows in this lovely traditional way of her family. She may have forsaken the Path when she choose to become a Catholic nun, but she still found beauty and even some innocence in the old ways. Despite gay marriages being legal, it was hard to find a Catholic priest to perform such ceremonies, and for those who did, they would usually have to hear about it. Which is why the old priest who was like an uncle to Dee sat in the row behind her, also watching the ceremony. Dee did not want to put the priest through that. He also came to an agreement with Ryo that they were going to be married in a rite that accepted them for who they were and did not frown down upon them. It was she who suggested Stephanie to Dee. Dee had no idea that the Wiccan High Priestess was an ordained minister for the State of New York.

Next to her sat Elena, who was also full tears of joy. At times she would rest her head against either Mother's, or Estelle's heads, happy for her nephew and the man he wanted to spend his life with. Estelle watched, thinking she had never seen something so beautiful, that if the ceremony was performed in a plain room, it would still be as beautiful. The elder MacLean lifted her hankie too to dab at tears. Franklin sat with his arm around his wife's shoulder, smiling proudly at his grandson. From what he witnessed, he had no doubt there was no one better suited for his grandson and pitied the next idiot who tried to put Ryo down for marrying a man. Akira sat on the other side of Franklin, full of smiles and tears. Like everyone else, she enjoyed watching this beautiful ceremony for two even more beautiful men. She could not think of anything more perfect for a ceremony than the one she watched being performed.

Stephanie looked over to Eddie, who came over, reaching into his pocket and taking out the ring he had been safekeeping all day. He set it on the altar. As he walked back into place, she looked at Barry, who did the same with the ring he held.

Stephanie did a quick blessing of their rings on the altar, then picked up the circular disc they were set on. She held the disc up in both hands above them, as if for all to see. "These are the symbols of love and unity, but they are still individual. Become as one when you face the challenges of the world, and the pain that comes with change. But within this union, be your own persons, unique, individual, and always growing. I ask that you allow each other to change, to become more than what you are at the present, and that you never find yourself with bitterness that comes with stagnation. With these rings, for he who gives it, and he who wears it, let it symbolize an eternal bond of love."

She put down the disc, and picked up Ryo's ring to hand to Dee.

Dee's hand was trembling slightly as he took the offered ring. He turned again to Ryo, smiling.

"Dee, repeat after me these words, and then add the words you have chosen to solemnize your vow," Stephanie instructed. "I, Dee Lane Laytner, do handfast myself to you, Randy Ryo MacLean, forever and a day."

Dee licked his lips, hoping his voice would come out as clear and strong as the conviction in his heart. Taking a deep breath, smiling at Ryo through glistening eyes, he said, "I, Dee Lane Laytner, do handfast myself to you, Randy Ryo MacLean…" he had to pause and catch his breath. It started out strong enough, but his voice cracked on Ryo's name. His heart was racing as he realized this was the homestretch to them finally being married. He took another deep long breath. He did not want to start weeping like the women in their families, at least not until after they were over with the ceremony. "…forever and a day," he finished, his voice strong again.

He placed the ring on Ryo's left hand, which was held out toward him. Tenderly, Dee caressed the hand in his, his eyes meeting Ryo's again. "Although we have lived together, it has not been enough," he started to say the vows he wrote and impressed to his memory. It was easy remembering as he looked into Ryo's eyes. He saw his future, his destiny there. "Today I choose to make a deeper commitment to you. You are everything I ever hoped to find in a lifemate. I will love you forever, and under all circumstances. I will stand by you always. I will have faith in you and encourage you in everything you do. I will be here to listen to you, to laugh with you, and to hold you. I will work with you as we build a life together and raise a family, and I promise to be the best person I can be. I will be your friend, your love, and your partner for all the days of our lives." He lifted the hand in his and kissed it.

Ryo's eyes started to water again. He had managed to get this far, but Dee's words, the feeling as he spoke, the way he looked at Ryo as he spoke almost undid him. Then that last gesture. His skin still tingled from where Dee's lips were. He drew a ragged breath, smiling at Dee, then looking down at his new white gold symmetrical designed band with small diamonds running through the middle of the front half of the band.

He turned his head when he heard Stephanie clear her throat. He saw her holding out Dee's matching ring for him to take. With a smile, he turned to Dee with the ring in hand, and grasped Dee's offered left hand in his.

"Ryo," Stephanie said, after giggling a little, "repeat after me these words, and then add the words you have chosen to solemnize your vow. I, Randy Ryo MacLean, do handfast myself to you, Dee Lane Laytner, forever and a day."

Ryo's smile grew as he looked up at Dee, noticing a single tear going down Dee's right cheek. He couldn't help himself. He leaned up and lightly kissed the tear away. He looked sideways at Stephanie and said softly, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Sighs of endearment and aw's filled the atrium when Ryo kissed the tear away, then chuckles at Ryo's not so apologetic apology.

Ryo took another deep breath and gazed up at Dee again, still holding his hand. "I, Randy Ryo MacLean, do handfast myself to you, Dee Lane Laytner, forever and a day." He slipped the white gold band onto Dee's finger. Both their hands trembled.

Ryo's lips pressed together as once again he was hit with an overwhelming emotion moment. He attempted to start saying his written vows. "Dee, I… I…." Tears started to fall from his eyes. "I'm sorry… I'm just so… happy," he started to cry, unable to go on.

Dee's eyes went wide, then he reached out with both hands to wipe the tears from Ryo's face, gently caressing his cheeks. "It's okay, baby. Me too. Now try to stop or we'll both be standing up here weeping."

Ryo managed to laugh a little at Dee and smiled up at him. "I'm okay. I'm sorry everyone…"

He did not have a chance to further apologize as everyone started to clap, showing their approval at Ryo's display of his love for Dee. Those in the front row, that included Mother, Elena, Estelle and Akira, were standing up as they clapped. All smiles, they hugged each other, so happy for their boys at the altar.

Encouraged by family and friends, Ryo took a deep breath. "Dee… I thought I had something clever, witty and hopefully as beautiful as your vow, but…" tears started to fall again as he gazed lovingly at Dee, "it doesn't work. How can words explain how my heart soars with even the simple things, like what you did just now? All I can tell you is… what you already know. What I make sure to tell you everyday, and…" he paused as Dee wiped more tears from his face. "that I intend to tell you everyday for the rest of our lives." He placed his hands over Dee's, looking deep into watery green eyes, the most beautiful eyes Ryo had ever seen. "That I love you, and that I'll be with you, and only you forever." His smiled widened. "There are no words, in any language known, that can express what I feel in here…." He removed one of his hands from covering Dee's and placed it against his chest by his heart, "Being with you."

Stephanie moved close to the two men and stated low, "Don't you two dare kiss each other for another five minutes." She chuckled. "Catch your breaths for a few seconds." She stepped back to join her coven members at the altar.

Dee and Ryo stood close, now holding hands, and pulling themselves together. Stephanie made her preparations to conclude the ceremony. She lifted a cauldron from the altar and setting it on the floor, one of the others lit it. The atrium was quiet, with exception to some weeping, and soft murmurs. The wind chimes could also be heard as they gently chimed in the breeze of a well placed air unit. Another coven member moved it to set a few feet away from the couple and closer to the edge of the platform.

The sun had set by then, and the sky beyond was starting to turn dark. Inside the atrium, the lights that were part of the set up were the only illumination. It was light enough to see faces, including of those standing on the platform, inside and surrounding the canopy, yet just dark enough that the lights inside lent more magic to the atmosphere.

Dee had taken out a hankie and was wiping Ryo's face, smiling at him adoringly. When Dee finished wiping Ryo's tears, the brown haired man took out the frilly handkerchief that Akemi had loaned him for the ceremony, and returned the favor, cleaning the tears from Dee's face.

When both handkerchiefs were in their pockets again, Stephanie stepped up to them. To the guests, she spoke. "What you just witnessed, and not planned as part of the ceremony, was more of that special type of magick of their love." She smiled out at everyone. "Now… I beckon Dee and Ryo to cross over the fire, which symbolizes the heat of passion and love, and the warmth of hearth and home."

Ryo and Dee positioned themselves so they stood side by side, facing the cauldron. The guests now had a side view to the happy couple, including Dee's profile with baby bump. Holding hands, they walked over and carefully stepped over it. As the wedding party started to clap their hands, as they were instructed during the rehearsal the night before, the rest of the guests followed suite.

Suddenly almost everyone was standing up, clapping and whistling and cheering on the happy couple, realizing a monumental moment of this ceremony had occurred. Those who preferred to not clap and remain seated still had to stand if they wished to see the remainder of the ceremony over those who were standing.

Ryo and Dee's heads turned in amazement. Their eyes started to glisten again as they smiled brightly with thanks to the guests.

Stephanie gave the guests a few moments before she raised her hands to start quieting them. During the time, another coven member had taken away the cauldron and set it before the altar behind Stephanie. She gestured for Dee and Ryo to come back and stand before her.

Smiling brightly out to the guests, she announced, "Let us all now join Ryo and Dee in extending their joys today to all their families, and especially to Bikky, their son, who will share a home with them." She glanced down at Dee's tummy, then back to the guests. "As you all probably are aware of already, their family will grow come this summer."

More applause followed her words.

Bikky and Carol came from their places. Stephanie handed a handmade broom, the handle made of twigs and straw bristles bound together with cords in the wedding colors.

Smiling, Bikky walked past his fathers, with Carol moving past them on their other side. They stepped off the platform and went to the edge of the bridge. Bikky placed the broom on the ground, then stood on one side, as Carol stood on the other side.

Stephanie was smiling more as she gestured for the guests to quiet down. "This is my favorite part," she told everyone. She lifted her head high, looking at the two ecstatic men before her. "And now," she started, her voice loud and with authority, "as you, Dee, and you, Ryo, have pledged yourselves to each other as partners in life, by the authority invested in me, by the State of New York, I pronounce that you are…" her smile widened as tears came to the men's eyes again. Dee appeared to be holding his breath in anticipation, while Ryo squeezed Dee's hand. "Husband and husband."

Dee released his breath with a happy gasp, and Ryo let out a little whoop of joy. More applause and cheers. Poppers that were handed out to guests, started to go off as streamers and confetti went into the air over the guests and floated gently down. Glittery confetti started to blow over everyone from machines set on the sides.

Deciding not to attempt quieting the festive guests as they welcomed the newly wed couple, Stephanie just raised her voice as she stated, "You may now kiss each other."

Dee turned to Ryo as Ryo's arms were already going around Dee. Their heads moved together and they kissed. Dee's arms encircled Ryo as they kissed while the celebration among the guests continued. Ryo broke the kiss just long enough to breathlessly exclaim, "I love you, Dee."

Suddenly Dee found himself being gently dipped backward as Ryo preceded to kiss the life out of him. Dee hung onto Ryo tighter, returning the kiss with all the love he felt at that moment.

Laughter and surprise accompanied Ryo's sudden move.

Reluctantly, Ryo pulled Dee up and broke the kiss. Dee grabbed one more light kiss to Ryo's lips, and rubbed his nose against Ryo's. "I love you, too," he said, laughing, his face flushed from emotion.

Stephanie came over to them, calming the guests. She made Ryo and Dee turn to face their guests. She shook her head, laughing. To the guests, she happily proclaimed, "It is with great pleasure that I present to you – Ryo and Dee Laytner-MacLean!"

Once again, the majority of their guests started to cheer. Mother, Elena, Estelle and Akira joined in a group hug, all the women openly weeping with joy. Franklin and Rick were proudly applauding with huge smiles on their faces. Aokis and Lanes were hugging each other.

All the groomswomen were wiping tears from their faces, as well as most of the groomsmen.

"Go now," Stephanie beckoned the newlyweds. "Turn and cross the besom, symbolizing hearth and home, and join those who are anxiously awaiting to welcome you as a wedded couple."

"Oh my God!" Dee murmured, tears falling from his eyes again. He squeezed Ryo's hand. "We're married!"

"Yes," Ryo laughed. "We are. We really are. Now everything else planned can all go to hell, and I won't care. I'm married to you now, and that's all I care about."

"Me too," Dee agreed. "Shall we?"

Ryo nodded. "Let's go."

Once more, the first notes of "Atlantic Crossing" filled the atrium, among the cheering. Ryo and Dee had decided they wanted that same song to be playing as they left the atrium as a married couple. As the notes swelled, together, hand in hand, they stepped off the platform and went over toward the bridge. They paused a moment to smile at Bikky, then Carol.

They stepped over the besom and continued their way across the bridge. Carol quickly picked it up as soon as they stepped over it, and handing it to Bikky, the two teens followed the happy couple over the bridge. Diana was starting to leave the platform to also follow as the song continued to play, with Dani and Stefen and the children next, and then the rest of the wedding party filing off the platform and following the couple as they lead everyone to the back and out of the atrium. The immediate family filed out from their row and followed everyone out of the atrium.

Along the walk, Dee and Ryo were waving and calling out "Thank you," to everyone they passed, until they found themselves back in the entrance. Ryo lead Dee down to where they were to stand for the receiving line, as the rest of the wedding party entered the entrance, everyone laughing and in a great mood.

As the wedding party started to line up for the receiving line to meet with guests as they left, Ryo had one of the ushers get a chair. Dee looked at Ryo in question.

"You've been on your feet from the time you left your suite and we have a very long night still ahead of us. So you're going to sit down for this part. Everyone will understand. It's not like this," Ryo smiled softly as he rubbed Dee's tummy, "is a secret." He leaned up to kiss Dee's lips lightly. "Now sit down and relax, Dee Laytner-MacLean, or I'll have someone go in and pull Vince out and have him tell you."

Dee tried to pout, but ended up smiling at what Ryo called him. "I am, aren't I? And you're Ryo Laytner-MacLean." His kiss, while soft, lingered. Dee knew it was useless to protest. Ryo was right anyway. It was the smart thing to do. It would not be the first time his ego would have to suffer a little for the sake of the baby, and far from the last. Besides, he intended to do more than just sleep in the honeymoon suite at the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue, across the street from Central Park, that was waiting for their use after all the partying. "Okay. For you and Chibi."

"Thank you, Dee," Ryo replied, smiling at him.

One of the security men came over, carrying one of the ornate, upholstered antique chairs that was hidden away for the ceremony. Ryo thanked him, noticing Mother, Elena and Rick, Akira, and Estelle and Franklin being escorted past the wedding party toward them.

The family took a few minutes to congratulate the happy newlyweds with hugging, back slapping, hand shaking and kisses. After the family got to personally see Ryo and Dee first, the rest of the wedding party came over to extend their well wishes, all exclaiming how beautiful the ceremony was until it was time for everyone to take their places as the guests started to exit from the atrium.

The music had changed to "The Mummer's Dance", by Loreena McKennitt, filling the atrium and the entrance hallway where the wedding party were gathered. Many of the Lanes had started to sing along as they left the atrium, and were joined in by some of the MacLeans, especially from the younger generation. It created a joyful sound, creating more to the magic that still surrounded the day even with the ceremony now over.

Dee sat down in the chair, realizing it was a very good idea. He felt the relief course through his body to finally be off his feet and sitting. Ryo went to stand behind the chair, rubbing Dee's shoulders and leaning over to murmur loving words to his new husband until the first of the guests started to come out of the atrium and into the entranceway.

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A/N: Just some notes about the ceremony here. The actual ceremony was altered from the original version by a wonderful woman named Lady Beckett, who is a High Priestess in the San Diego area. I first came across this beautiful version of a Handfasting in the book, "Circle of the Cosmic Muses" by Maria Kay Simms back in 1997. There's a story about this that I must share with everyone. When I read the ceremony in the book, it stuck with me. It was simplistic, yet touched on the most significant meanings of what marriage and commitments means. A few years later, where I worked at the time, one of my friends got engaged and wanted a Handfasting on the beach. Being we became friends because of common beliefs, she went to me asking if I knew of any rituals that she could consider, and also if I knew of any High Priestesses in the San Diego area that were also ordained ministers for the state of California. Of course, that ceremony came to mind immediately and the next day I brought in the book for her to read it. Meanwhile during that day, we contacted several Wiccan circles, putting out word of her need for an ordained High Priestess. The next night, while at home, she was reading the ritual when she got a phone call. It was from a woman who introduced herself as Lady Beckett and that she was interested in doing the ceremony. My friend nearly dropped the book from her lap. As they talked on, Lady Beckett mentioned the same ritual, and my friend laughed, saying she was just reading it when the phone rang and it came highly recommended by a friend. Needless to say, I got to see this ritual performed at La Jolla Cove, at sunset, performed by none other than the most gracious Lady Beckett. I got to speak to her that day, as I was part of the ceremony, but also had assisted my friend with the preparations for the day (it was a DIY wedding, very unlike the one you just read, but every bit as beautiful). The ceremony was so amazing and beautiful, we had people coming down to the Cove from the apartments and hotels overlooking it, asking which religion was it and gushing about how it was the most beautiful wedding ceremony they had ever seen. Many of those people actually joined in halfway through, standing on the outer edges of the circle. Since then, I had the pleasure of revising it a few times when I presided over Handfastings (two were for same-sex commitment ceremonies). When it came time to marry Dee and Ryo in the RPG I'm part of, I sent the ceremony to Gracie Musica, once again revamped to fit the circumstances of Dee and Ryo in the RPG. She loved it, and we used it. Then finally, I tweaked that version for what you just read. I removed most of the parts pertaining to a Wiccan ritual, making it basically a non-denominational ceremony. Dee and Ryo are not Wiccan, and despite his choice for ceremony, is still Catholic, but with an open mind in this fiction. I hope everyone enjoys the choice for ceremony as much as I love this particular one.

"Atlantic Crossing" is from a CD called "Celtic Shores" by The New Milenium Orchestra. "The Mummer's Dance" is by Loreena McKennitt from the CD "Book of Secrets".

While there are touches of Ryo's Japanese heritage throughout the wedding, my Ryo is also half Scottish (yes, MacLean can also be Irish despite the spelling, but since I'm part Scottish, I decided from when I started to write FAKE fanfic that he's Scottish too). Also my Dee was raised by Mother Maria to be Irish, and embraces that as his own heritage, since he does not know what his own is. With both men having Celtic heritages, then I figured the overall theme of the wedding will be Celtic.

Alrighty, enough rambling here – I'm going to see what I can do about getting one more chapter up tonight, among the other fic I should be working on tonight.

**25 of 25**


	25. Afterglow

Inside the suite Dee had used to get ready in, Ryo sat down next to Dee, offering a crystal flute shaped champagne glass fille

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 25 - Afterglow

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: And the marathon continues… There might be one more chapter tonight. If not tomorrow. For those of you who had reviewed already, I'm glad you're liking it. I'm curious to hear more thoughts on the wedding. And remember, this is a happy occasion. I wanted Ryo, and especially Dee, to have what they will remember for the rest of their lives as the perfect wedding (even after they learn of all the mishaps that had gone on through the day. LOL!)

# # # # # # # #

Inside the suite Dee had used to get ready in, Ryo sat down next to Dee, offering a crystal flute shaped champagne glass filled with Martinelli.

Dee accepted the glass with a kiss, smiling at Ryo. "Thank you, my husband," he said with a grin.

"You're welcome, my husband," Ryo replied, also smiling. He lifted his glass. "To wedded bliss." His glass chimed against Dee's and he took a sip.

Dee did the same before lifting his for a toast. "To finally being married to you."

Ryo's smile got wider as they drank to Dee's toast. They continued to drink from their glasses, sharing kisses between sips. When the glasses were empty, Ryo took Dee's and placed both on the table next to the lounge they sat on.

The newlyweds had their jackets and ties, along with Ryo's vest hanging and waiting for when they were ready to continue the rest of their big day.

Ryo had previously arranged for some time alone in one of the suites before heading over to the reception. After the receiving line and the last of the guests were in the elevator going down, everyone in the wedding party stayed up in the atrium, taking wedding photos. Ryo planned for a mock getaway from the ceremony site and just go around the corner. As they were getting ready to leave, they found out that the hansom cab was in the last stages of repair, but there was a black Bentley waiting for them with an explanation of what had happened to the hansom cab. So Ryo and Dee went downstairs and into the Bentley, allowing for the guests who stayed behind to wish them well. As the guests went on their way for cocktail hour at Bridgewater's, the two ecstatic grooms were dropped off at a back entrance, giggling and still dusting off glitter confetti and streamers that the guests threw at them on their way out of the building. Before they left, Sharon had assured that after speaking with the people with the horse and carriage, it would be there to take them over to Bridgewater's.

Until then, Ryo's plan was to have Dee rest up a little. It was already a long, exciting and emotional day for the two of them. Even with a new sense of peace settled around them knowing they were married, the rest of the night still promised to be long, with more excitement and enjoying themselves with family and friends. Ryo did not want Dee to collapse, and had planned out some things to make the day as easy as possible on Dee, while still allowing his new husband to have fun on their wedding day.

Ryo grabbed the blanket next to them on the lounge and settled them down to lay back on the thick, comfortable pillows. Shaking out the blanket, he covered them with it. Dee's arms were immediately around Ryo, pulling him close and kissing him deeply.

"Dee," Ryo warned, chuckling. "This is not wedding night time. This is resting to assure we can make the most of wedding night time."

Dee pouted, which was exactly what Ryo expected. He snuggled closer to his dark-haired husband, starting to lightly kiss him, one hand rubbing the baby bump. He smiled as he got the expected result from that. Dee seemed to melt in his arms. His smile got bigger as he felt another kick, while Dee grinned knowingly, giggling at the look of wonder on Ryo's face.

"I can feel him again," Ryo said, awed.

Dee chuckled. "She must be feeding off my excitement or something, 'cause she's been active all day, especially during the ceremony. It's the most I've felt her yet."

Ryo kissed Dee again. "He's probably doing somersaults for joy that his daddies are married and had a very beautiful ceremony." He smiled lovingly at Dee, his husband. Ryo was enjoying running those words through his head, overjoyed that they were true. He watched as Dee started to snicker and joined him as they once again fell into their 'It's-a-he-no-it's-a-she' game they enjoy to tease each other with.

"That's probably what's up with her." Dee rested his head on Ryo's shoulder as he turned onto his side, and sighed happily. "That was a ceremony that dreams are made of."

"So, you're happy?" Ryo asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Dee's head shot off the pillow to stare down at Ryo, who grinned impishly up at the incredulous look Dee gave him. "Happy?" Dee asked. "Just happy? Holy shit, Ryo! I had never been to a wedding like that ever! As fancy as your cousin's was last year, not even that matched. And here… this was our wedding. That was my wedding day. Even after realizing I wanted to marry you, I never dreamed that we'd have something like that. It was just… damn…." Dee sighed happily, trying to find the right word to sum it up. "Magical," he finished.

Ryo smiled up at Dee. "'Cause we are, Dee." He reached up to caress Dee's cheek. "Stephanie says she means it when she says our love is magickal. I have to admit that I believe her."

Dee nodded. "Me too." He settled his head down next to Ryo's again. "I can't wait to see the video. I want to see what everyone saw for the entire Processional."

"Oh, I do too," Ryo agreed, pulling Dee close again. "So many people had so many wonderful things to say about it. Even some of the old farts who still had some doubts. And it wasn't all flash and flair just for flash and flair. Everyone saw it as the right introduction, making our wedding that much more special."

"Everyone seemed to like the ceremony itself," Dee stated softly, putting an arm across Ryo's chest. He was enjoying being held by the man he now called his husband, in a quiet interlude for some post-ceremony afterglow. "I'm glad we went with that one. It seemed to have more meaning than the standard vows to promise to cherish and obey."

"Yeah. It seemed to touch on all the important factors that make a marriage work." He kissed Dee's head. "On what two people in love should remember." He started to laugh. "Your family certainly loved it."

"Well, they're all Heathens anyway," Dee remarked with a laugh.

Ryo chuckled along with Dee. Since meeting them, Ryo had discovered that while Dee's contact with the Lanes over the last few years had mostly been through Mother, and the last time he saw them was when he was sixteen, Dee was very fond of the people he called his cousins. "Except for Mother," he added.

"Yeah. But she's always been a bit of a rebel." Dee grinned at Ryo. "She had that streak in her long before she announced to her Pagan family that she was going to become a nun. Then she really became a rebel. Even if she says she had no choice, that she 'heard' her Calling, they still tease her."

Ryo studied the look that came to Dee's face when he finished speaking. There was something there that did not match the levity of his voice. "Why do you think she became a nun?" he asked Dee.

Dee pressed a kiss to Ryo's neck. "As far as she's concerned, I never told you this, so don't mention it to her. Okay? Her family knows, and since now you're officially family, I'll let you in on a family secret. She didn't become a nun right on the verge of womanhood or anything. She was engaged once, to a man she dated since high school. They were planning a huge Lane style wedding. Then she was told she was unable to conceive. Mother was heartbroken. She wanted children – lots of children. Apparently so did her fiancé, 'cause he split on her, wanting his own biological children. Back then, a single woman could not adopt either. And she was too heartbroken to dare take that chance with another man again. Not long after that, her parents were killed in a traffic accident. So she became a nun, I think to escape her pain and heartbreak. She originally worked with the orphanage. When she found out it was in danger of being closed, she used her inheritance money to keep it open and eventually she took charge of it."

"Oh," Ryo uttered, looking sad for his mother-in-law.

"At least over the years, she had more children call her Mother than she imagined. She was happy again, doing what she could to take care of orphans until she could place them into good homes. Then she managed to adopt me. She swears to this day that God lead her to Sisterhood so she could get me." Dee smiled tenderly. "Which is why she still calls me her miracle."

"It looks like it all worked out for her," Ryo remarked, running his fingers gently through Dee's hair. "And she was one extremely happy mom giving her son away today."

"Yeah, she was." Dee smiled at Ryo. "I think she loves your grandparents for allowing us to have the wedding we are in the middle of."

"Even if they didn't, I have a feeling we'd still have had something of a grand wedding, judging from bits and pieces I've been hearing about the amount settled between my family and yours on what the Lanes will be paying."

"Yup. They told us that they had planned to surprise Mother when I finally announced I was going to get married, and foot the bill for a Lane style extravaganza."

"Well, in that case, I'm glad we did a ceremony the Lanes can appreciate."

"Me too. But I agreed because I wanted to be married by a minister in a faith that would appreciate our love for what it is," Dee admitted. "I'm so glad that so many people, Catholic, Pagan, Shinto, or whatever, enjoyed our ceremony and appreciate it and us."

Ryo giggled. "You know, I believe Shinto falls under Pagan. Only because it isn't Christian, Judaism or Moslem." He started to gently rub Dee's belly, while softly nuzzling the side of his face. "So I think that makes some of my family Heathens too." He laughed, snuggling closer to Dee.

"I do believe you're right." Dee sighed contently. "That feels good."

"Then relax and enjoy it," Ryo stated, smiling at Dee. His smile widened when Dee nodded and closed his eyes to take Ryo's advice and relax.

It was only a few minutes before Dee fell asleep. Ryo set the alarm on his watch and cuddled up next to Dee, intending for the two to have a half hour nap, before getting ready to head over to the reception.

# # # # # # # #

"Okay, so I should be expecting this, but all I can say is, whoa!" Ted remarked to his co-workers as the wedding party arrived at the reception venue.

Bridgewaters was located in South Street Seaport area, situated above the historic Fulton Market. It was a popular choice of venue for many businesses and organizations to hold conferences, as well as a popular space for weddings and other private parties.

The wedding party came out of the private elevator entrance onto one of the terraces and entered the cocktail reception through what was called the Museum Club foyer. The venue was broken into two spaces: The Bridge Club and the Museum Club. The reception itself was to be held in the Bridge Club, which consisted of the two original rooms Dee and Ryo had managed to reserve and built up the rest of their wedding around. There was the Terrace Room, which they had passed upon entrance. From what guests were able to see as they walked past along the terrace, it served as the buffet room, where the food was to be served. The Bridge room was designated for the tables and dance floor. The highlight of the room was its northern view of Manhattan and views of Brooklyn, including the Brooklyn Bridge, which was most prominent from the northeast windows of the room. It was that alone that decided the happy couple in their first choice of venues, since the Brooklyn Bridge played a major role in the night they had officially become a couple.

A week after Dee and Ryo had signed on Sharon as their wedding coordinator, they had received a call from the woman saying that the Museum Club had become available for use that night. They had consulted with Sharon and they found themselves adding the additional space to their contract with the venue, then started to revise their plans for the reception.

The Museum Club side was on the southern end of the venue, its windows looking out to the New York Harbor to the south, Brooklyn and the South Street Seaport to the east. Coming from the elevator, guests were lead along a terrace on the western side of the venue and were treated to views of lower Manhattan, the Hudson River and New Jersey.

The cocktail reception was held in the Museum Club. It gave the impression of being that, the walls waiting for an art collection. Otherwise, it was a large open space with bright white walls along the inner side of the space, while the side facing the outside was all windows and doors leading to the terrace.

The décor for the cocktail reception reflected the entrance to the ceremony. Along the walls and windows were the white lighted tree branches and cherry blossom trees. The floral arrangements were a combination of those in the ceremony's entrance and in the atrium itself. They were long arrangements utilizing all the flowers selected by Ryo and Dee, and set in high planters of blue glass. Like the floral arrangements on the pillars going down the center aisle, there were large hurricane glasses set in the center of each arrangement with candles flickering within. Blue lighted netting draped across the ceiling, along with Japanese lanterns in pink, lavender and yellow. Effect lighting gave the room an overall feeling of blue and white, with small moving splashes of the pastel colors in designs.

Set up along the walls and windows were various bars, each one designated for a particular type of drink. There was a bar for champagne and wine, another for beer, and others for margaritas, martinis and mixed drinks. Other bars served non-alcoholic beverages and there was even one set to serve coffee and tea, should that be the liquid choice of a guest. Some of the bars were ice sculptures, while others were made of glass blocks. Those bars reflected all the wedding colors in different patterns. The remaining bars were silver and blue.

The terrace beyond was accessible through several doors. Tables and chairs were set up under a wide awning, protecting guests from the snow. Heating lamps provided warmth against the cold. More Japanese lanterns hung, along with fringe lights in the pastel colors.

Recorded jazz and classical music played as guests arrived and mingled. Waiters in tuxedoes greeted guests with platters of hors d'oeuvres of many varieties.

Janet looked at Ted in amazement. "And after that ceremony, were you expecting the reception to be decorated in crepe paper and tacky fold out bells?" she asked.

"Well…" Ted shrugged. "Like I said, I should have expected something like this. Nevermind. How about let's just say I'm impressed."

Janet shook her head. "I guess that would work."

JJ looked at the two amused. "Actually, when they first booked, they only had two rooms. They were going to have cocktails in the main room, not like this and have a space just for cocktails."

"Oh?" Marty asked. "How did they manage this then?"

Diana smirked as she joined the small group in a corner not far from the entrance. Some of the others from the wedding party had already started to mingle with the other guests. She pulled Rose along with her. "I don't think Ryo considered it," she stated, having overheard the conversation. "I know if definitely flew over Dee's head."

"Wha?" Drake asked. "What are you talking about."

"The cancellation came through not long after they hired the wedding coordinator," JJ remarked.

"So?" Drake looked confused.

"So, the other room was reserved previously to Ryo and Dee getting the initial contract. You know, for birthday parties, anniversaries. Something like that." JJ looked up at Drake, expecting him to get it.

The other man still looked lost, along with most of the others surrounding him.

Rose snorted. "It means through the wedding coordinator, the MacLeans 'bought' out this room so Ryo and Dee could have the entire place to themselves."

"They can do that?" Drake asked, looking horrified.

"Rich people have no scruples and can be ruthless," Ted stated. "Yeah, I heard about stuff like that." He tried not to smirk when he heard three throats being cleared in response to his first statement. He gazed at JJ. "I didn't mean you, of course."

Rose frowned. "I'll tell you what. This is all speculation on our behalf. So no use in upsetting the newlyweds on what turned out to be a most spectacular day. Correct? So the first one who opens their mouth to Ryo and Dee will hear it from me." His gazed settled on Ted. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," Ted replied, not looking happy.

"They might find out on their own eventually," Drake pointed out.

"And no reason to upset them if they don't," Diana said. "I don't want Ryo, and especially Dee to have a bitter taste looking back on today."

"Besides," Rose added, "do you really want to upset the pregnant guy?"

Heads all around shook. Rose's last statement made them realize there was no debate on the issue.

"Looks like they're going to let everyone in for dinner," Marty observed.

"Just remember to stay behind," Diana reminded the group. "Once the band starts playing, they'll announce us in." She smiled sweetly at Drake. "Don't worry. There's plenty of food, so there will be something there when we go in."

Drake frowned at Diana, while the others laughed.

Ted studied Diana. "You're eating this up, aren't you?" Ted asked her.

"Aren't you?" Diana questioned.

"Well…."

"Thought so."

The others laughed again.

"Just think of it," JJ started. "If we're all feeling like kings and queens, then imagine what Dee must be feeling today. After all, him and Ryo are the most pampered, being it's their wedding day."

Ted shook his head. "I tell ya, if it was just today, it'd be bad enough. But there's tomorrow's brunch and the big send off. And then a week of being pampered in luxury in that big fancy Bahamas resort for the honeymoon. Dee had better not come back expecting us to continue catering to him."

Janet giggled. "Some of us will anyway. You know, the baby and all."

Ted rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Hey, I'm going to go get a drink. Anyone with me?"

"I'm going to go talk to Emiko and some of her family," Janet said, excusing herself. "I'll see everyone when we get called in."

Ted watched Janet walk away from them.

Drake clapped Ted on the shoulder. "Damn, dude. That's worse than just striking out. Looks like the game is over."

Marty shook his head. "You ask me, the season is over."

"She's a fickle flake anyway," Ted remarked. "I can do better."

No one dared say anything. Instead, everyone headed toward the bar, where Barry and Eddie were already getting their drinks.

Janet approached a group standing near the windows, looking out onto the terrace and the southern skyline of lower Manhattan. "So, how are you liking New York?" she asked Martha, who was among the group.

Dee's Japanese friends seemed to have become her escorts for the day. With Ken, was his wife, who had flown in the day before. The couple planned to stay an additional few days after all the wedding celebrations so their family could have a chance for sightseeing. Dee had never met Ayumi, but spoke to her on the phone a couple of times and always sent presents for their children for birthdays and holidays. Hide's wife stayed in Japan, deciding to stay behind with their children. Being seven months pregnant herself, she thought it best, but insisted that her husband go to New York and spend some time with his college best friend during the wedding celebrations. The couple had been married immediately after college graduation, and Dee had been part of their wedding day. Two weeks after their wedding, Dee had left Japan to return to New York. Yuki's current lover could not take the time off from work to accompany him. Since all three men were friends with Martha during their college years, it was like another reunion for them.

As Martha was flown in by herself, she was glad to be in the company of familiar faces. She had also had time to catch up on things with Ryo's old unit buddies, whom she had not seen in years.

She smiled at Janet. "Oh, it's all I expected!" she replied. "Almost as beautiful as Bangkok and Tokyo. I'm so glad I could come here. And Dee and Ryo look so happy, yes?"

"Oh indeed," Janet agreed.

"I'm happy for them," Martha said. "Especially Dee. I always felt he needed a good man." She winked at Janet. "I always felt he was never meant to settle down with a woman. But he needed a man he could trust enough to allow himself to be the one taken care of. Which was something Dee was never able to allow when I knew him."

Dee's other friends nodded. "Dee always had to take care of everyone else," Yuki added, "but I also knew, somewhere inside, was a part yearning to be taken care of. He has his mother, but by the time I got to know him, he felt he had to take care of her. Even from Japan. He would send her money from the part time jobs he had through school."

"He always gave me that impression too," Janet stated. "Meanwhile, Ryo gave me the impression that he needed to open up and be able to reach out to someone. Don't get me wrong. Ryo has always been warm, kind and with a beautiful smile for everyone. As long as you didn't get on his wrong side. And even for those, he was still there if they needed help." She giggled before continuing, "He could be quite a flirt too. Ever since we met, he was good with flirting with me. A shame that Dee already had moved in on his feelings for him to take me up on an offer for coffee or whatever before things progressed between them. Ryo was also one of those who were always willing to help someone, always the guy with words of encouragement or just lending quiet support. Still, when you got to know him, you noticed that wall he kept around him. Until Dee managed to help tear it down."

They were interrupted by an announcement that the Bridge Room was open and everyone could proceed to their tables.

The group excused themselves, and along with everyone else who had their table numbers already, headed for the Bridge Room.

The members of the wedding party, along with close family started to gravitate toward the couches set to the side of the Museum Club. Some of them were already lounging, drinks in hand, nibbling on hors d'oeuvres as they talked.

Julie smiled at Janet as they approached the gathered group. "Well, I'd say Dee and Ryo had an amazing wedding day. And we're only at the start of the reception."

Barry nodded as he put his arm around his wife, pulling her close. "They certainly went for big and beautiful, and succeeded." He laughed. "And somehow managed make New York City an underlining theme, from old New York to new."

"Tell me about it," JJ agreed.

"I just love New York!" Emiko exclaimed from her seat. "I want to live here. Besides, I'd be closer to Ryo, Dee and the baby." She giggled.

Everyone laughed along with Ryo's Japanese first cousin. As the wedding party continued to talk, the band inside the Bridge Room started to play a rendition of "Are You Ready 4 This" by 2 Unlimited, with one of the singers welcoming the guests on Ryo and Dee's behalf. Barry started to laugh at the choice of song, and others followed. Rose rolled his eyes, but even he grinned as Diana hugged him, laughing. Franklin looked at his wife, who smiled widely.

"Oh, it'll give those old dinosaurs in there a shaking," Estelle said with a giggle. "And I'm sure the younger generations are bouncing up and down. No matter how you look at it, it's apparent that it's now party time."

"I would say so," Franklin stated, then finally laughed.

"I made sure that Ryo and Dee remembered to include some of the more pop songs that they like for the reception. They went for formal at the ceremony, but like Mom said, it's time to party," Elena stated.

"I hear the more hip songs will be played to announce everyone into the reception, and then some jazz and classical during dinner," Akira stated. "After dinner, more party music."

"Yes, that's what they decided," Elena agreed. "I hear they also included some big band and swing for dancing too. I think they did a fine job in choosing details to make this a formal and elegant wedding, and yet lots of fun. Did you hear the guests during their ceremony? I had never seen so many people give newlyweds a standing ovation."

"And all that cheering and clapping," JJ added. "I thought it was cool. I know they were surprised."

Mother clasped her hands in front of her, a huge smile on her face. "Everyone who came up to me had so many wonderful things to say," she said. "Now only about how handsome Dee and Ryo looked, and how happy they are, but about the wedding itself."

"Dee looked absolutely regal, Maria," Estelle said, beaming proudly. "And so did Randy. My goodness, do they make a dashing couple," she gushed. "No doubt people are going to be talking about their wedding for a long time to come. My family thought I was just bragging because Randy is my grandson. They should know better." Her smile got wider. "Everyone has had a lovely time already, and the reception is just getting started."

"I'll tell you what," Barry stated. "If those hors d'oeuvres are any indication, I can't wait for them to announce us in already so I can hit up that buffet."

"No kidding!" Pedro agreed. "I could make a meal on the hors d'oeuvres alone, but I know it only gets better inside."

Sharon came over to the group. "I trust everyone is enjoying themselves so far?" she asked.

Heads all around nodded.

"We're quite proud of Randy and Dee," Franklin stated. "They did a marvelous job on planning for this wedding. And you, my lady, are a true miracle worker to pull all their ideas into this amazing wedding in the time you had."

"My reputation is for pulling together weddings that would take a year to plan in less than a month. At least Dee and Ryo already had venues when they first contacted me. Most couples didn't have that much. They pulled off the hardest part on their own."

"That is exactly why I chose Sharon to refer our grooms to," Elena said. "I heard much about what she is able to do in short amount of time."

Sharon laughed. "That's my specialty. Ah, I hear the first song is winding down, so if everyone could get ready to be announced in." Sharon smiled at Mother. "And Mother Lane, once again, may I say you truly look like the proud Mama you are. My congratulations to everyone of you in Dee and Ryo's families."

"Why thank you," Mother said, blushing.

Akira, who was sitting next to Mother, smiled. "Amazing, but with this marriage, I feel like I have gained family." She smiled first at Mother, then Estelle.

Franklin nodded. "Indeed. I find it amazing too, but I do believe Randy marrying Dee ended up undoing the damage Frankie's marriage to Rayna caused. Plus we have additional family through Dee." Franklin took his wife's hand and squeezed it. "Frankie and Rayna must be overjoyed today. And so proud of their son."

"Oh I agree," Estelle said, her eyes misting a little. "I wish they could have been here on this momentous and beautiful day in their son's life." She smiled. "Well, shall we?" she asked the group, starting to stand up. Eddie, who was standing, held his hand out to help her up. Barry was helping Mother, while Tsubasa helped his grandmother.

They waited around in the foyer just outside the Bridge Room, where the table and dance floor was set up. Then band ended the song and went into a rendition of "Celebrate" by Sly and the Family Stone. The same singer who spoke to the guests earlier got their attention once again as he got them clapping along with the music. After the song's introduction, the wedding party was announced in. While guests clapped to the music and cheered, each member of the wedding party was introduced as they entered in the order Sharon directed them. Barry, JJ, Pedro, Tsubasa and Janet threw their arms up high in the air when their names were called, as the others waved in the direction of the guests. Pedro, Adriano, Emiko and Diana started to dance their way toward the area the wedding party was to be seated. It prompted the others to follow suit, except for Rose, who tried to maintain some semblance of decorum as he escorted Diana to the tables. Eyes opened wide as they finally saw the area they were to be seated, along with Dee and Ryo.

There were two long tables situated just before the first level on the platform. Each table seated eight. The table linen was blue with yellow swags hanging before each person.

Between the two tables was a step up to the first level of the platform. On that platform were two tables seating three on each side. Blue linen with pink swags designating a seating on that row. Another step up between the tables to the main platform, set up like a stage. On each side at the edge of the platform were two more tables seating three. Over the blue linen on those tables were lavender swags. The tableware was the same as the other tables in the room. Blue, silver, crystal and white were the colors of dishes and glassware. There were plates of various sizes, round and square, including soup bowls and salad platters stacked in a way that was pleasing to the eye. Napkins for the tables on the platform matched the color of the swag. Small wreaths of the wedding flowers with little hurricane glasses and a lit candle within was set between each person at the table. Set at each place was also the menu card. Like the wedding invitations and the programs, the cards were a portfolio. When opened, there was a card with a list of all the foods offered at the buffet, another card for sweets and a third card that had the official engagement photo of the two grooms, with a message Dee and Ryo wrote up as a thank you to their guests.

Set a few feet back on the platform was a round table set for two. Unlike all the tableware used for the other tables, the tableware was blue and crystal, and all crystal glassware, trimmed in silver. The table linen was a shimmering blue. Calla lilies and blue iris made up the flower arrangement for that table. Right behind the table was an arrangement of cherry blossom trees and white lighted tree branches. As a backdrop for it all hung light blue curtains and dark blue swags, spanning from the end of one of the 8 place tables to the end of the other. Lighting helped set the mood of the tables, including changing spotlights on the curtains, and at the end of each rectangular table was an upward spotlight changing through the wedding colors.

On the platform's right side was a long table facing the platform, designated for spouses, dates and additional family of those in the wedding party. On the left side of the platform, next to the one of the long tables were three long tables set up in a 'U'. The children of the wedding party were lead over to that table. There was another small backdrop and effect lighting to designate that the table also held some prominence.

"Oh my God!" Elina gushed as they approached the platform. "This is just beautiful!"

"Tell me about it!" Janet exclaimed.

"Oh look!" Emiko pointed out to the far corner left of the wedding platform and the windows beyond. "It's the Brooklyn Bridge! How beautiful!"

Julie smiled at her husband. "Oh yes. Dee and Ryo did alright with the wedding arrangements," she said.

"Definitely. I think if we told Dee two years ago, he'd have a wedding like this, he'd have laughed," Barry said, smirking.

Drake snorted. "Hell, if you told Dee the same thing a little over five years ago, he'd have laughed at you for being so stupid to believe he'd want to get married."

"So true," Ted sighed, as those who had known Dee for a long time laughed.

"Well, look at him now," Barry said. "Aw I think our little Dee is all grown up. Married, with a baby on the way, a big beautiful wedding. It makes me misty."

Julie slapped Barry's arm playfully. "Go on and tease, you big brut." She lifted a tissue to dab at her eyes. "I think it's just lovely."

JJ grinned impishly. "Oh please, somebody ask the band to play 'When You Wish A Star', or 'Fairytales Can Come True'."

Drake did a double take at JJ. "Dude, that's on you." He laughed. "But shit, I'd pay you fifty bucks if you do."

Pedro laughed. "How about 'Someday My Prince Will Come'."

The others broke out in laughter as they went to take their assigned seating around the platform. The groomsmen and women were seated at the two long tables in the front. Barry, Eddie and Diana were to go up to the first level behind the long tables, sitting down on the table that was on the platform's right. Julie sat just in front of Barry at her table. Rose and Akemi were escorted to their seats on the long table along the platform's right side. Elisa's husband came over to join them at the table. Right behind them were Tsubasa's wife, and Emiko's husband, Daito, who were also seated at the table. Also joining them were Karen and Jocelyn's husbands.

Diana sat back in her seat, looking around, appreciating the set up. "This is just amazing," she remarked, loud enough for those close to her to hear.

All the other tables were round and seated 10 guests. They had light blue linen, with silver overlays. The same tableware and glassware were used as the wedding party. Each place setting at a table had a different color napkin, alternating in pink, yellow and lavender. The table settings were like those on the wedding party tables, but a little bigger. On each side of the centerpiece were long thin abstract vases that lit up from within and had a small cluster of long stemmed calla lilies and blue iris.

She noticed that some of Ryo's cousins, along with Vince and David were seated at tables near the front. There were a few empty tables, apparently for Akira's other children with their families, and Sarah and Clarisse. From what she could tell of the other seating, tables were pretty mixed. Dee and Ryo had come up with an unique idea to mix guests at the tables. Rather than having assigned designated seats, they had scrolls hanging from the cherry blossom tree. Guests were instructed to take a scroll. It was Ryo's idea, his wicked sense of humor coming to the surface. Rather than having guests sit in little cliques, especially from his family, he thought it would be fun to mix things up a little. Chances were members of the various families, along with their friends and co-workers would end up thrown together at the tables. Dee loved the idea immediately, after he stopped laughing at the thought of some of the MacLeans ending up at a table with some of the poorer members of St. Joseph's, the church affiliated with the orphanage. One side was for couples to pick from, and the other was for singles. Each scroll had a table and seat numbers on it. The guests were surprised at first, and a few looked affronted. For the most part, once everyone was settled down, Diana could see that conversation went on, even if there were not the little expected cliques sitting together, especially within the elder MacLeans. It worked well because instead of a sit down meal, there was a buffet. Cliques could be formed at the buffet tables, or outside in the Museum club side while getting drinks, and even on the terraces.

Windows were framed with pastel lights, while clusters of fringe lights in whites and pastels hung from the ceiling. Effect lighting of blue lit up sections of walls and windows, while the ceiling was lit up in a combination of the pastel colors, with moving blue designs.

Diana sighed in appreciation. "This is all just amazing," she stated.

"I can't wait to show the rest of the family that didn't show just what they missed. This is the best wedding in MacLean history!" Jocelyn exclaimed in excitement. "And I'm glad." She looked around at those seated close to her, realizing she had their attention. "Ryo had a lot of prejudices to stand up to, and he did it in a huge way. I'm so proud of him."

"I agree," Tsubasa said. "Anything small would be like sneaking or slinking to most of the MacLean elders, and even to some in our family. Instead, Ryo stood tall and proud with the wedding of all weddings. Good for him."

JJ, overhearing, suddenly had new insight to why Ryo had pushed for a big wedding and encouraged Dee until they came up with the one they were in the midst of. It was a wedding for royalty. Realizing how true Ryo's cousins' words were, he had to admit his respect grew for Ryo at that moment. Not only did Ryo give Dee the type of wedding he felt they deserved, it meant he stood up to opposing family members. The wedding as it was, was Ryo's shout to all his family that he was who he was, in love with who he was and damn proud of it.

How could someone not respect that? JJ wondered.

"Hard to believe something like this is Dee's wedding, huh?" Drake asked him, pulling at his pink tie.

JJ smiled at Drake and shook his head. "No. Not hard to believe. This is Dee. This is the way he had always lived his life, and now Ryo is going to live it the same way."

Drake looked at JJ confused, missing what Ryo's cousins had to say about the wedding. "Excuse me, but the last time I looked, Dee was just a poor working class shmuck like the rest of us. Ryo too, despite his coming from a great big influential rich family."

"Not the money. The message. The meaning." He indicated all the décor within the room with a flip of his hand. "All this, screams that Ryo and Dee are in love, and plan to spend the rest of their lives together. And anyone who doesn't like it, can just fuck off."

Drake looked at JJ, then shook his head. "Well, yeah. I guess it does that all right. So when do we get to go and eat?"

JJ laughed. "After this song, I think." He picked up the card and opened it to look over the buffet menu. "Oh wow! Would you get a look at what they're serving!"

Drake was also studying the menu card. "It does seem to have something to please every palate in the room. Which is a good thing. What's with this grilling station?"

"Apparently some things are grilled to order," JJ said. "Nice. That means you can have a nice steak, potatoes and veggies. And if you're a good boy, you can even have some macaroni and cheese." He snickered.

Drake glared at JJ. "So I'm a man of simple tastes. But I'm up to trying out something I haven't had before. You know, try out some of that rich people food, just to say I did."

JJ laughed, taking out the sweet and dessert card. "Oh my! A chocolate fountain! That'll be yummy! And all these fancy French, Italian and Japanese pastries. Will I have room for some wedding cake?"

Drake started to look around the room. "Um, maybe that's why there's so much pastries."

"Hm?" JJ asked. "Oh, speaking of, where is the wedding cake? I want to see it. From what they described, it should be lovely. Almost too lovely to cut up and eat."

"There isn't one," Drake stated. He pointed over to the corner of the room where the Brooklyn Bridge was visible. "However, my guess is that it should be over there."

JJ looked over to where Drake had indicated. Set up in the corner was a wrought iron threefold screen designed with intricate scrolls. Scattered about the upper half of the screen had candles glowing in colored votive glasses. The bridge was still visible behind the screen. A glass table was set within the screen. However, there was no cake to be seen.

"Hey, what happened to the cake?" JJ asked.

Barry cleared his throat and leaned across his table. "It's on the way. We were assured it would be here before dinner is over."

JJ's eyebrows rose as the rest of the wedding party on that side, looked at Barry. "There was a traffic accident, involving the vehicle transporting the cake. Apparently, it was made off site in one of the kitchens affiliated with this place."

"Oh God," JJ muttered. "How bad was it?"

"A fender bender, we were told," Diana explained. "No one was hurt, but a couple of the layers on the cake were DOA. So they took the cake back to the kitchen to fix up what survived and remake what didn't. Thank goodness, only one of the layers destroyed had intricate scrollwork on it."

"Do Dee and Ryo know?" Drake asked.

Both Barry and Diana shook their heads.

"No. Not yet. We're hoping it shows up before they do, and then they don't have to know until after they get back from their honeymoon," Barry said.

"Or if some well intentioned guest mentions it, at least it will be here already," Diana added. "I hope," she muttered.

The current song ended, and the band started to play a rhythm that was familiar, yet could be one of many songs. One of the female singers of the 18 piece band was getting everyone to start clapping again, and stating that the family of the newlyweds will be entering the room.

"Oh, after this, all we need is Dee and Ryo," Julie exclaimed.

The singer had everyone on their feet and clapping.

# # # # # # # #

Sharon smiled at the assembled family members as the sounds of clapping accompanied the music. "This is it, ladies and gentlemen. And once again, please enjoy this most joyous day."

Estelle stopped before Sharon. "I should have asked earlier, but is our little surprise in place?" she asked.

Sharon nodded. "Oh yes. You know it took a bit, but I know it will be worth it. It will be just before the last song."

Estelle beamed. "That's wonderful. At least the boys picked an early end time, so all the guests should still be still accounted for. Thank you. For everything you have done for this most delightful wedding. I know my grandson and his husband are so happy. And they deserve everything they have."

"Indeed they do, Mrs. MacLean. Now, I do believe it is time for you to party."

"Thank you, again, Sharon," Mother exclaimed. "And God bless you."

Sharon smiled as the band went into the first notes of "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge.

To the surprise of most guests, and the delight of many, while their names were announced individually, the group entered the room as one. United. Franklin and Estelle MacLean, grandparents of Ryo Laytner-MacLean. Elena and Rick Harcourt, aunt and uncle as well as second parents of Ryo Laytner-MacLean. Akira Aoki and Maria Lane, grandmother of Ryo Laytner-MacLean and mother of Dee Laytner-MacLean. Bikky Laytner-MacLean, son of Ryo and Dee Laytner-MacLean. Clarisse and Siobhan, cousins of Dee Laytner-MacLean. Akira's other children, Ryo's aunts and uncles. They all entered, waving and smiling, talking amongst themselves, and laughing among the music and announcing. They were escorted to the platform to join the wedding party.

Carol's eyes opened wide. "Oh wow! This is just…. oh wow!"

Bikky laughed. "That's what you get for going to get your hair done instead of going with me and Ryo to see the set up before going over to the ceremony."

"I'm not complaining. And I'm glad I went. Everything had to be just perfect, you know," Carol remarked. "Just like everything else is today. It's all so beautiful."

Bikky nodded, happy for his dads.

Bikky and Carol were seated behind the wedding party on the left side of the platform. Elena, Rick and Akira sat down at the table behind them. On the table on the other side, behind the best men and maid of honor, sat Mother, Estelle and Franklin. Those two tables shared the platform with Ryo and Dee's table.

"I hope Dee doesn't get too spoiled," Mother giggled, looking around. Seeing it earlier in the day, empty and in daylight, was very nice. But now with the room filled with guests, and the New York night sky beyond the windows, there was a different ambiance to the room, aided by the lighting and flickering candles on all the tables.

"Oh pish, Maria," Estelle said. "Let the boy be spoiled. Carrying that baby for our Randy, he deserves this and a whole lot more."

Mother smiled. "I'm so happy to hear that. Dee is my treasure. And I know Ryo was meant to be with him."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Estelle stated. "I've never seen our Randy look so happy and… vibrant… as he is with Dee. For that alone, we're grateful."

"Ladies and gentlemen," another member of the band spoke into a microphone. "The Terrace Room is now open for dinner. Please use the plates at your setting for the buffet. But fear not, you are allowed to make multiple trips to the buffet, and there are plenty of extra plates should you need."

As guests chuckled and started to stand, he added, "For the next hour or so, we will be playing some softer music for your dining pleasure. One more thing, as you can see, the grooms are not here yet, but we expect them to arrive soon. We will announce when they arrive downstairs to give anyone interested ample time to be here when they make their grand entrance."

The band struck up a slow jazz song as guests filed out of the room and across the foyer into the Terrace Room.

Once again, they were treated to sweeping views of the lower Manhattan skyline. The room had netting like in the Museum Club. Lined up along the walls were various food stations. There was a pasta bar, a soup bar, vegetable station and a vegan station. The entrée station was set up along the windows looking onto the terrace. Some of the guests went outside to smoke, waiting for the crowd getting their food to dwindle down. Next to the entrée station was the grilling station, where certain meats were grilled up to order. There was a seafood station, and sushi bar. The sushi bar was another ice sculpture, with pagodas and temples that the various sushi was set upon for picking. The salad bar was also sculpted from ice. The dessert and sweet bar was set up in a corner, with the chocolate fountain as the center of attraction.

Music from the Bridge Room floated into the room as guests picked out their food.

Waiters were on hand to serve food onto plates, and there were some waiters with trays to help guests with more than one plate return to their tables.

"Oh my God," Drake groaned. "I doubt I'll be able to have even a bite of everything here."

"You don't have to. Just take what you like," JJ remarked.

"It all smells and looks so good. Gah, what will I pick first?"

JJ shook his head. "Whenever you're done, just meet me at the table." JJ went off to fill his plate, leaving Drake to his dilemma.

"You're not right," Drake whined. "You're supposed to be my partner."

"This time, you're on your own, partner," JJ laughed.

Marty came up and slapped Drake on his back. "Have fun, man." He laughed as him and Darla went past Drake over to the salad bar.

"Now how can someone look so upset at an affair such as this," Drake heard David say from behind him. He looked back to find David and Vince come over to him.

Vince smiled at him. "Hello Drake. You look smashing in pink."

Drake groaned. "Hi Vince, David. Please, I can't wait until I can loose the pink. Dee and Ryo so owe me for this."

David shook his head. "Seriously. It does look good on you. Don't sweat it."

Vince smirked. "Don't worry, man. We know you're straight. You're forgiven." He winked at Drake. "But I think I'm as perplexed as you are. There's so much good food, I don't know where to start."

David leaned over to kiss Vince's cheek. "If you want, I can get food for us both. If you trust me."

Vince put an arm around David and kissed him lightly. "I trust you. So if you don't mind, please."

David laughed as he patted Vince's chest. "You're such a helpless man sometimes. But don't change. I'll talk to you later, Drake." He went off to inspect the various food stations.

Drake sighed. "Since I don't have anyone to get food for me, I might as well start figuring out what I want."

"Go for the lighter stuff first, so you don't get full right away," Vince suggested.

"Right. Gotcha, Doc. I'll catch you later."

"Okay, Drake." Vince snickered, watching Drake wander off. As he waited for David, he found himself pulled into a conversation with some of Ryo's relatives, thanks to Eunice.

The main topic among guests was the lack of a wedding cake visible, which lead to lots of speculation as to why. Those in the know tried to squash growing rumors by explaining the truth, but talk will still go on, and some pretty bizarre explanations went around.

Half the guests had made their first selections and were seated, starting to eat when one of the band members made the announcement they were all waiting for.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just received word that our grooms have arrived downstairs – via the most beautiful hansom cab in all of New York City. So if you wish to greet our newlyweds when they arrive, please return to the Bridge Room. Don't worry, there still will be plenty of food left to come back to."

Chuckles went around the room as it emptied, all the guests wanting to be present for Ryo and Dee's grand arrival to their wedding reception.


	26. The Reception

Dee stepped out of the bathroom as Ryo was putting on his jacket

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 26 – The Reception

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Anyone up for one more chapter? I'm going to start calling this the wedding weekend. LOL! I think this is the last one for tonight. Once I get through the wedding, the rest of The Unexpected II will be posted through the month of August.

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Dee stepped out of the bathroom as Ryo was putting on his jacket. Not very long before, the alarm woke them from their nap, and they started to get ready to leave for their reception.

"I got a call that our carriage awaits us downstairs," Ryo informed Dee, buttoning up the jacket.

Dee smiled, appreciative eyes fixed on Ryo as he put on his own jacket. "I guess that means time to start getting out of here for sure, huh?"

Ryo nodded. He came over to Dee, offering the white winter coat to go with Dee's suit. Ryo fussed for a few moments, making sure Dee's shirt was tucked in, the button of the jacket was settled where it should be. He checked for any lines or creases that shouldn't be there. All he could think of was how perfect Dee looked. "Put on your coat," he said, smiling up at his new husband. Ryo was also holding a dark charcoal coat. The coat was custom made, like Dee's, to go with the suit.

"Thanks." Dee leaned over to kiss Ryo as he took his coat. "Husband." Dee's grin grew as he spoke the single word.

Ryo's smile was bright. "Yes," he sighed happily. He started to put on his coat.

The two continued to share glances as they prepared to go out in the cold weather for an open carriage ride to Bridgewaters.

In his coat, with his scarf hanging open around his neck, Ryo looked around the room. "Looks like we got everything into our bags," he commented.

"If not, I'm sure someone will make sure we get it at breakfast tomorrow," Dee assured Ryo. "Honestly, everything I need for later tonight, either I'm wearing or I never took it out of my bag."

Dee smiled at Ryo as he moved close. He started to tuck Ryo's blue scarf inside his husband's coat. "Now I really can't wait to get to the Pierre," he commented. "You look amazing."

Ryo laughed, pleased. "So here I am, over dressed in a coat, tuxedo and scarf, and now I look amazing?" he teased. He glanced slyly up at Dee.

"You always do. But…." Dee sighed happily, then licked his lips. "Something about gazing at my husband all dressed and ready to go to our wedding reception is tempting me to make us late."

Ryo laughed again. "Now don't you start," he warned lightly. He reached out to tuck Dee's scarf in his coat. "'Cause my willpower is almost non-existent by now. I'm anxious too, but before we know it, we'll be on our way to the Pierre. I'm sure the next few hours will go by quickly." His smile turned into a leer. "Then I promise you, the waiting will make it so much better. I'll make sure of that."

"You mean there's better?" Dee asked. "Because it's always incredible with you."

"You'll see," Ryo said with a teasing wink. "Now, we need to get going. But how about a kiss first?"

"I'd love to." Dee cupped Ryo's face in his hands, drawing the slightly shorter man closer until their bodies met. Ryo's arms were around Dee's neck when their mouth met. As they kissed, the fingers on one of Ryo's hands softly played with Dee's dark, thick hair.

They kissed for several minutes, neither one wanting it to end yet. Although they had kissed a million times before, it was always enjoyable. They were yet to have enough. But this time, like every kiss they shared since the ceremony, it seemed to have a new dimension to it.

Ryo marveled on how kissing Dee, his husband, was different than Dee, his lover. As he felt the kiss deepen, and not just by Dee, he knew they had to stop, or they would never make it anywhere else that night, honeymoon suite at the Pierre Hotel included.

"Dee," he sighed, reluctantly pulling away, but still holding onto his husband. "As much as I could spend the next few hours just doing this… we have to leave."

Dee groaned, then drew a ragged breath. "Y-yeah. We should." He kissed Ryo's nose. "Let's get this over with already. Being married made me hornier than I already was." He grinned at Ryo.

"Agreed." Ryo lightly kissed Dee's lips. "Just remember the wait will make it better."

"I should know," Dee said with a soft smile. "Because that first time we did it was worth waiting two years for."

"And this will only be two days. Only thing is we're married now."

"Yes, we are." Dee's smile widened.

They pulled apart to collect their overnight bags. Hand in hand, they left the suite. In the elevator, with the lights of the city night twinkling beyond them, along with the softly falling snow, their bodies gravitated to each other again to share a kiss that ended only when the elevator doors opened to the lobby.

As they exited the building, arms around the other, they discovered more than just the hansom cab waiting for them. One of Elena's photographer friends was also there, getting the moment on film.

Dee's eyes lit with glee when he saw the horse drawn carriage waiting. It was decorated with small Japanese lanterns in pastel colors and framed with white and blue lights. Dee had agreed with Ryo about hiring a hansom cab and having it decorated, but he let Ryo work out how. Ryo requested it, wanting to surprise Dee.

Ryo grinned at Dee. "You like?"

Dee nodded. "Oh yes! Now I feel like we're two princes." He laughed. "I'm glad none of the decorations were ruined in the mishap."

"Me too." Ryo nodded to the driver and climbed up into the carriage. He held out his hand for Dee to take. "You'll have your leading moments, love, but this time, accept my help," he said.

Dee smiled up at Ryo, aware that the driver was now standing near him. The woman dressed in a heavy wool coat with faux fur-lined collar and a top hat did not touch him, yet hovered, should Dee or Ryo require an additional hand. Dee reached out and allowed Ryo to take his hand. Suddenly he understood. Under normal circumstances, Dee would have had no trouble getting into the carriage. Once again he was reminded that things were different at the moment and will continue to be for a few more months.

Ryo kept a firm grip on Dee and once he was able to, had his other arm around Dee's waist, steadying him. Once Dee was in the carriage with him, instead of releasing him, Ryo pulled Dee closer and kissed him. "I love you, Dee," he sighed.

Dee smiled as he returned the kiss. "Love you too."

They sat at the same time, Ryo reaching for the blankets provided and covered their laps and legs. There was a small electric heater lamp providing some additional warmth. Ryo did not mind the cold at all. He enjoyed snuggling next to Dee, who appeared to be not as cold as Ryo, and melted against his husband's side when Dee placed an arm around him.

They looked over to the photographer for a few quick posed photos to go along with all the candid shots the man had gotten, and then they were on their way. The back of the carriage had a big white sign, framed with lights, that displayed in big black hand-painted letters, "JUST MARRIED!"

They alternated between kissing and looking at their surroundings as the carriage made its way down Fletcher Street, going east. They crossed Front Street and continued to South Street. People walking along the sidewalks stopped to look, some waving and calling out well wishes to the newlyweds. Giggling, Dee and Ryo would wave back, grinning. The carriage made a left turn on South Street, going down two blocks, with the FDR Drive above and slightly to the right of the street. Cars that passed honked their horns in greeting.

When the hansom cab approached Fulton Street it made another left turn. With some direction from a traffic cop, it was allowed to go a little up along the street that was otherwise closed to traffic. It came to a stop, and the driver looked back to them.

"This is as far as I could go, gentlemen," she said.

Dee and Ryo both nodded, already aware of the situation on Fulton Street in front of the Fulton Market.

"That's fine," Dee assured her, smiling.

"Would you like to join the reception?" Ryo asked, buying time for Elena's friend to catch up with them. "I understand you'll have to wait for us. It would be better to wait somewhere warm with plenty of good food and even dancing."

"Oh, I couldn't," the driver said.

"You could," Dee remarked, flashing her a charming smile. "It's our wedding and we already made arrangements for the driver of our getaway carriage to be part of festivities. Better than finding an icicle down here when we're ready to leave."

"Well… that would be wonderful. Thank you."

Ryo winked at her. "No. Thank you. I understand you had quite a rough afternoon. Time to relax for a while. Once you got things secured here, just go to the elevator. We'll let them know you're part of the wedding."

"And don't worry about someone taking the carriage," Dee assured her. "From what I understand more like that fine fellow in blue will be patrolling the street, and making sure it's still there when we all come down."

She smiled her thanks at the two men and started to climb down from her perch in the front, once again waiting, should one of them need an additional hand.

Elena's friend came over, camera posed and already taking photos as Ryo and Dee stood up to depart from the carriage. People walking down the street stopped to watch the two men. Some shook their heads in disgust and continued on, while others remained where they were, wanting to watch the newlyweds, not caring that they were two men.

Ryo jumped down from the carriage with a flourish as camera flashes went off.

"Show off," Dee chuckled. "Just for that…." He stuck his hand down for Ryo to take it.

"Of course," Ryo replied, and helped Dee.

It became apparent to the bystanders that Dee was pregnant. That caused some of them to hurry along their way. Yet, still others stayed and watched.

Once both of Dee's feet was on the ground, he pulled Ryo close for another kiss. Those still remaining to watch started to clap and cheer as the newlyweds kissed.

Hand in hand, with the photographer in front of them, they started to walk up the block toward the entrance to Bridgewaters, which was halfway up the block. As they walked, the bystanders who stopped to watched, started to follow the couple, clapping their hands and cheering. It made their walk seem more festive than it already was.

It was a cold night in Manhattan, with snow flurries still lightly fluttering down. The street was shoveled and the rock salt made the flurries melt as they touched the ground. There was some snow build up along the building. To Dee, there wasn't a more pleasant night in NY than that one. Despite his panic earlier in the day, the snow made everything seem more magical than it already felt to him. He smiled at Ryo and they stopped for a quick kiss before continuing on.

Inside the entrance to Bridgewaters, they were met by Sharon and one of her assistants. The grooms noticed there were security men in the lobby. An assistant took coats, scarves and overnight bags from the two men as they shed their outer wear. Sharon came over to them.

"Let's give everyone a few minutes to get into the Bridge Room to greet you. I just called up to let them know you're here," Sharon instructed.

Both men nodded and shared another kiss. Sharon smiled at the happy couple.

"I trust you're both pleased with the day so far?" she asked.

"Oh, very much," Ryo said with a smile. "Everything was just beautiful. More than we envisioned. Thank you, Sharon."

"I had good visions and designs to work with," she said. "Besides, grand upscale weddings in limited time are my specialty. This was one of my easiest ones. I'm almost embarrassed to be charging what I am."

"Even if it was coming out of my own pocket, it would still be worth every bit of it," Dee assured her. "Really. It's been amazing."

"It helped that you're an artist and can also do blueprints and diagrams. I don't usually get that." She smiled again at the men. "Now… while everything is going smoothly upstairs, and there's people happily stuffing their faces on all that fine food being served, while they listen to good jazz, there's something I need to tell you."

Dee frowned a little. "Is it very serious?"

"Depends."

"On?" Ryo prompted.

"On how important it is that your wedding cake is already here or not." She held her hands out toward both men, who started to open their mouths. "It'll be here soon. I just got a call not that long ago, and it's on the way."

"But it was supposed to be on the way here about the time of the ceremony," Dee protested. "What happened?"

"Another traffic mishap," Sharon explained. "My apologies. But the snow seemed to have caused fender benders all over the city. Unfortunately, the van transporting your cake was in one of them."

"It's not your fault," Ryo assured her, gripping Dee's hand tightly, hoping to keep Dee from going into a panic. "How bad was the damage?"

"Three layers survived intact, but two had to be made again."

Ryo nodded. "Fine. Injuries? Damage to the vehicle?"

"No injuries. Minimal to the vehicle. Of course the insurance will cover it," Sharon answered. "And thankfully no glass cracked or broken. Because if that had happened, they would have had to make the cake from scratch."

Dee took a deep breath. "Okay. So now the cake is all done again and on its way. And hopefully there won't be another traffic accident on the way. What's the ETA?"

Ryo looked over at Dee, surprised at the calm of his dark haired husband's voice. Instead of the anxiety Ryo was expecting, Dee seemed to be handling it like another case. Dee felt Ryo's eyes on him and flashed Ryo a quick grin. A grin that told Ryo he was up to something. Ryo waited to see what it was.

"Fifteen minutes. Twenty at the most."

Dee nodded and pursed his lips in though. "That'll work. We still have another hour after dinner is over anyway, so anytime before we're to cut it would be good." To Ryo, he asked, "Right?"

"Of course." He grinned at Dee. "I already told you, everything could all fall to hell right now, as long as we're married."

Dee leaned over to kiss Ryo, smiling. "Agreed. So… let's have a little fun with it then."

"Like?" Ryo asked.

Sharon listened to the two men. She was used to them working together like they were. That was how they worked out the wedding arrangements with her. She could only imagine how they were working together on a case. They were perfectly matched. It was no wonder the two work partners became life partners.

"Let's have the cake make a grand entrance when it arrives," Dee replied.

Ryo giggled. "Shall we instruct the band to play something like, 'Sugar, Sugar' when it arrives?"

Dee's grin grew wider. "Something like that. Sure. Let them announce the cake in, and play some type of song about sweets."

"Since it's your idea, I'll leave you to the music," Ryo said and chuckled. "All I ask is that you don't have 'em play 'Candy Man'."

"What's wrong with that song?"

"Nothing," Ryo replied. "When I was a kid. But becoming a cop… let's just keep the candy men out of our wedding please."

"You got it." Dee laughed at the street reference for a drug pusher.

"So are you gentlemen ready to go up?" Sharon asked. She had been listening to them, her mind already in gear on what Dee suggested for the cake's arrival.

Together they entered the elevator. "So what do you suggest, Dee?" she asked. "Tell me what you want, then just concentrate on your reception."

"Um…" Dee smirked and leaned over to whisper in the wedding coordinator's ear.

Ryo watched as her grin grew. "I swear, if I didn't trust you, Dee, I'd think you're telling her some wickedly naughty things."

Dee and Sharon broke out in laughter. "Naughty yes," Dee remarked. "But not in the way I'm naughty with you." He leaned toward Ryo and nipped his nose.

"Hey!" Ryo pulled Dee close and kissed him.

Sharon laughed with delight, enjoying watching the happy newlyweds.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto the terrace. Dee and Ryo got a glance through the windows of the Terrace Room and smiled.

"Wow!" Dee remarked. "Looking good."

"Wait until you see the Bridge Room," Sharon stated. "Especially that set up of yours you wanted for you and your wedding party. I think your attendants loved it, if the looks on their faces were any indication."

"Good," Ryo said. "I'm glad." He was aware of the assistant leaving them with their coats and bags, going off to the coat room. He placed his arm around Dee's waist.

"And of course, when you have the time, you must see the Museum Club. Your guests were most impressed with their cocktail hour," Sharon added. "Excuse me." She spoke into the headpiece she wore, informing someone that they were upstairs and about to enter the foyer.

Ryo smiled at Dee. "Are you ready, love?"

Dee nodded. "Definitely. Actually I'm starting to get hungry anyway."

"There's plenty of food," Ryo said. "And yeah, me too. Might as well eat up, 'cause we're going to need energy later tonight."

"Oh? Is that so?" Dee winked and lightly kissed Ryo. "Then lead me to the food."

"We're going to lead you to your table first," Sharon laughed. "They're ready for you."

Dee took Ryo's hand. "C'mon Mr. Laytner-MacLean. Time to party."

Ryo laughed as he allowed Dee to lead him through the foyer. Apparently all the guests wanted to be in the main room when the newlyweds were announced because they saw no one in the foyer, and the Terrance Room was empty except for the staff.

As they got near the door, one of the singers said into his microphone, "Alright everyone! Time to give the newlyweds a great big welcome!" The band started to play "Whenever I Call You Friend", which was selected by Dee and Ryo after changing their mind through 3 other songs in the wedding planning.

"I present to you, Ryo and Dee Laytner-MacLean!" the singer announced as the couple entered the room.

Guests started to clap and cheer as they entered and walked across the dance floor toward the platform.

"Oh holy…." Dee gasped, finally seeing the set up other than what he drew. "My God, Ryo…"

"It's beautiful," Ryo agreed, squeezing Dee's hand. "It's all beautiful. Just like everything today."

"Yeah, huh?" Dee put his arm around Ryo's waist as they came to stand before the platform. He stopped them to pull Ryo closer for a kiss, to the delight of their guests.

The wedding party, and family were all standing and clapping.

When they broke the kiss, Ryo fanned himself with his free hand, pretending as if he was faint. Dee laughed and Ryo hugged him. Together they went up the two steps in the center of the platform, waving to the attendants at the first row of tables, then to Bikky and Carol, their best men and Maid of Honor, and finally paused at the last row of tables to hug and kiss Mother, Estelle, Elena and Akira, and hug and shake hands with Franklin and Rick.

As the song approached the end, Dee and Ryo went over to the round table at the center of the platform. They stood, holding hands and waving to the guests, while photos were taken. Once more they kissed, before finally sitting down.

Ryo looked at Dee and chuckled. "Wanna borrow my hankie?" he asked. He gently wiped at Dee's cheek.

Dee grinned, not minding the tears of happiness, as he did the same to Ryo. "Only if you'll borrow mine."

They grinned at each other and rested their foreheads together.

"At our grooms' request, toasting will be made after everyone gets to eat," one of the women in the band announced. "So, please feel free to go back to that delightful buffet and enjoy."

"Yeah, we wanna eat too," Dee stated, loud enough for their families to hear. The elders laughed.

Mother looked over at him. "We as in you and Ryo?" she asked slyly.

"We as in Chibi and me. But Ryo can eat too," Dee replied.

"Why I thank you for your kindness, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," Ryo drawled sarcastically, then laughed. "So now that we made it all the way in, time to head out again and get some grub."

"That's what I'm saying," Dee laughed. They kissed again, then followed some of the wedding party to make their way into the other room for food.

* * *

All the guests and wedding party, including grooms were seated and enjoying their meal. At one point, Ryo and Dee noticed Sharon going over to the children's table. Dee went back to eating his food, while Ryo watched on in curiosity as Sharon spoke to the young ones, and watched their mounting excitement. He cast a few glances over at Dee, who appeared to not notice them, but Ryo knew better. Other guests had noticed when the children all got up, and were quietly lead out of the room, some of them still giggling.

Mother looked back to Dee and Ryo in question, as did Elena and Rick since Dani and Stefen were included. Others in the wedding party were curious too, wondering if the grooms had anything to do with it, or was it a surprise for them.

Ryo shrugged, honestly having no idea what was going on. Dee merely grinned. Instead of responding to Mother, Elena and Rick's questioning looks, he leaned over to whisper to Ryo, "I'm pretty sure the cake is finally here."

Ryo glanced at Dee, remembering his husband whispering to their wedding coordinator in the elevator. He started to chuckle and kissed Dee's cheek. "I can't wait to see what you planned," he replied.

When the band finished playing the current song, most of the musicians put down their instruments as one of the women picked up a microphone. "We have to interrupt everyone for an important arrival," she announced. "If everyone would please remain seated so we have a clear path for the latecomer, that would be fantastic. Thank you."

She paused, looking back toward the doorway, as guests started to murmur in speculation of who could be so important to warrant such a grand entrance, and after the newlyweds at that. On the wedding party platform, all eyes were on Ryo and Dee, wondering if they had any idea what was going on. Ryo still shrugged, having some idea, but not everything. Dee attempted to look innocent in his answering gaze to their attendants and guests, but did not succeed.

"Without further ado," the woman continued, "we'll just start the music and…" She smiled. Two other singers joined her at the microphone, while some of the musicians started playing "Lullaby League and Lollipop Guild" from _The Wizard of Oz_. The children entered, signing the song and giggling. They looked excited as they walked along, some skipping, others hopping. They surrounded the five layer wedding cake being wheeled in on a cart.

Most of the children sang off key, some messing up the words, but hearing children's voices and laughter made up for it during the impromptu performance. Guests laughed delightedly and photos were taken as the procession made its way to the corner designated for the cake. Mother, Elena and Rick laughed.

"How sweet!" Diana crooned, and everyone at the tables agreed.

Ryo looked at Dee, pleased at what his husband came up with for the cake's arrival. Dee grinned and winked. "Munchkins," he stated. He took Ryo's hand in his and squeezed it.

"It's perfect," Ryo remarked, leaning to kiss Dee's cheek.

Together, they watched, along with everyone else. When it was time to transfer the cake over to the table set up for it, the children stood around, as if on guard. They clapped their hands and continued to sing until the cake was set in its place of honor.

Dee and Ryo were on their feet by the last notes, applauding the children. Dee put two fingers in his mouth to whistle. The rest of the guests took example from their hosts and also gave the children a standing ovation. The children giggled and waved.

They were led back to their table, chatting excitedly as guests settled back down to eat and admire the 5 layer mostly square cake. Instead of being evenly stacked, each layer was set in a different angle over the one below it. The cake was blue fondant. On the edges of each layer were fondant cherry blossoms and calla lilies, along with real Asiatic lilies. The bottom layer had wide spaced small blossoms in purple icing. The layer above it had leaf scrolls in pink, the third had yellow piping made to look like swags going around the top half of the layer. The next one was plain, except for the kanji for "love" in silver. The top layer was an octagon shaped cake, with vertical piping in blue made to look like vines. It was topped with cherry blossoms and lilies.

On the table, around the base of the cake, an arrangement of all the wedding flowers was set into place, including candles in small hurricane glasses. The table itself was a block of Plexiglas. Once the arrangement was complete, the caterer turned toward the stage.

"We're not done yet," the woman with the microphone said. "But I think our grooms should do the countdown. So, we'll just start up the music and whenever they're ready they can signal to throw the switch."

All eyes went back to Ryo and Dee. Ryo knew exactly what they meant, since there was one more touch to the arrangement. He did not know what song Dee had chosen, but he was ready. He placed his arm around Dee's waist, pulling him close, smiling more as Dee's arm went around his waist. Ryo started to break out in laughter as the band started to play the main theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey".

"Anytime you want," Dee whispered into Ryo's ear. Ryo grinned back.

Some chuckles went about the room, along with others cheering the choice of music.

As the song went into the drum intro, Ryo lightly scratched Dee's back. "Just after…," he started.

"Got it," Dee replied.

At the right part, just after the drums, both men raised their free arms into the air. The clear white Plexiglas table suddenly was flooded with light. All the wedding colors seemed to beam from the floor.

More cheers followed as the cake setting was complete, with the Brooklyn Bridge beyond the ironwork screen and candles.

"Well, that was fun," the woman said with a laugh. "And a very lovely arrangement for a most beautiful wedding cake. Would everyone agree?"

The guests responded with applause. Some voices called out "YES!" The men in the wedding party made a couple of joking remarks to the newlyweds.

"Now for your continued dining pleasure, we'll go back to our regular programming," the singer said to chuckles around the room.

As everyone settled back to their meals, eyes going to the cake and the grooms, Ryo hugged Dee, laughing. "That was fun," he agreed.

Dee hugged Ryo back, stealing a quick kiss. "Yup, it was," he grinned.

They sat down and Ryo took Dee's hand. "I think it worked out well."

Dee nodded as he lifted the hand holding his to kiss it. "Yeah, it did. To be honest, I'm glad it worked out this way. I mean, I feel sorry for everyone involved because of the accident, and all the extra work that went into recreating most of the cake, but I think I liked this better than it just sitting there all arranged as people entered the room."

Ryo nodded, and covered Dee's hand with his other. "Oh definitely." He looked at Dee's near empty plates. "Are you ready for seconds?" he asked.

Dee laughed. "I guess getting married and all the excitement made me a little hungry."

Ryo grinned ruefully at Dee, his eyes going to his own plates, which matched Dee's. "I think I understand."

"Well then, onto more food. The problem with the buffet is that I know I won't be able to eat everything I want."

Ryo chuckled and kissed Dee's nose. "But you're going to try anyway."

"Of course," Dee remarked with a grin.

They both looked up as they realized they heard the sound of crystal chiming, to see their guests clinking forks against the glassware. It had started from the table with Barry, Eddie and Diana. With grins, they moved closer so they could kiss. Ryo placed his hand on the back of Dee's head as they kissed to the loud approval of their guests. Some of the guests who were going to get more food, raised their hands in the air, cheering.

They pulled apart briefly, to gaze in the other's eyes, both men smiling.

"More food?" Ryo asked.

Dee moved in again for another kiss before replying, "Sure."

Laughing, the two men stood up and started to go down the steps of the platform. Bikky and Carol got up and followed them, talking to the two as they made their way into the Terrace Room. They talked to the other guests as they filled their plates, and were shortly joined by Mother and Akira. Akira made sure Dee had a plate with everything from the sushi bar that he was permitted to eat, and along with her plate, carried it back to their tables. They stopped to briefly speak to other guests on the return trip, but they had planned it out that once the dancing started, they would mingle more with the guests.

Throughout the rest of the meal time, they would be prompted to kiss because someone started to cling their glassware, causing others to do the same. Dee and Ryo both knew this would stand out as a meal to remember for the rest of their lives.

Ryo picked up a fried eel sushi piece and dipped it in the low sodium dipping sauce, holding it out for Dee to eat. He smiled as Dee's mouth came closer.

"Just think, Dee, this is our first dinner as a married couple," he remarked.

Dee's mouth was full, but it did not stop the beautiful smile in reply. One, like most of the dark haired detective's smiles that day, that reached his eyes, making them glow.

* * *

It became apparent that dinner was over by guests starting to wander to other tables and start mingling, and the level of talking went up. Even those in the wedding party with family sitting at the designated table went over to talk. There were still a few guests making one more trip to the buffet. Dee and Ryo were by the children's table, talking to the children, after returning from getting drinks in the Museum Club. The two men were very pleased and impressed with the set up, but not surprised. With the ceremony arrangement, the buffet in the Terrace room and the set up in the Bridge Room, they had come to expect something better than they envisioned, and they were right.

Until they finally made their way to that side of the reception venue, one of the family made sure there was ginger ale for Dee, while waiters went around the room, including the wedding party platform, offering wine to those eating.

Mother had come over to join them as they talked to the children, along with JJ, Marty and Darla.

The waiters started to go around the room, filling flute shaped glasses with champagne or sparkling cider, depending on each person's preference. The waiter assigned to the wedding party platform started to do the same, including the children's and spouses' tables.

Mother touched Dee's arm. "Sweetheart, I do believe you and your husband should get back to your table," she said with a warm loving smile.

Dee hugged his mother to him and kissed her forehead. "I think you're right."

JJ chuckled. "It's time for roasting the grooms." He looked at the kids, grinning. "Are you ready to watch lots of people have fun at your big brother and his husband's expense?"

The kids all clapped their hands. "YAY!" came the general response.

"How about you two?" Diana asked Dani and Stefen. "Are you ready to watch your cousin turn red?"

Dani giggled. "Yeah!"

"Cousin Ryo always used to turn red," Stefen replied.

"Oh? Is that so, rugrat?" Ryo remarked, pretending to give his younger cousin a nuggie.

Stefen laughed, squirming at Ryo's attention.

"Get him, cousin Ryo!" Dani clapped.

Dee started to laugh, noticing Bikky and Carol coming up to them. He nudged Ryo, to get the other man's attention. Ryo turned to look and noticed the same thing Dee did. The boy they called their son looked more like a handsome young man, and being an excellent escort to his lovely date. They exchanged a quick glance, realizing that they would have to start keeping a closer eye on the two longtime friends, as they were certain love was definitely blossoming between the two teens.

The rest of the wedding party was returning to their seats. Barry caught Dee's eye and hooked a finger to beckon them to return to their table of honor.

"Oh oh," Ryo remarked, also seeing it, linking his arm around Dee's. "If that was ever a summon of doom."

"Tell me about it," Dee agreed, with a mock put upon sigh.

"C'mon along, darlings and get into place," Mother remarked, gently pushing Dee forward.

"Yeah, stop holding things up, you two," JJ stated, walking ahead of them to take his place.

Dee sighed again, then winked at Ryo, who giggled. Together, they walked with Mother and Diana back to take their seats.

Dee glanced over at the table where Barry, Eddie and Diana sat, and getting ready to deliver their toasts. He looked back to the children's table. "Mother," he called out.

"Yes, Dee," Mother asked, turning away from her conversation with Franklin and Estelle at their table.

"Are you sure it's okay to keep the kids in here for this? I mean, it's bound to get a bit raunchy," Dee said.

Mother nodded, smiling. "I'm sure most of it will fly over the younger ones' heads anyway. They'll giggle and laugh just because everyone else is."

"And what about the older ones?"

"When have you ever known me to shelter my children from the real world, Dee?" she asked.

"Well…" Dee replied ruefully. "I seemed to have missed a few things growing up."

"That was you, not me," Mother replied. "Your father was a narcotics detective and you got the talk about drugs from both him and me."

"Maybe you delivered those talks a little too well," Dee stated, thinking about Arnon. Dee had been blind about his friend's addiction, never once believing any of his gang could be involved with drugs until it was too late and his friend was found dead at the age of fifteen. Dee had never been blind about it since then, and noticed the first signs in Tommy a year later. He took a deep breath. "Anyway, if you think they'll be okay, then they'll be okay."

Mother smiled at him. "Of course, I do."

Estelle looked at Franklin. "What was it we said at family gatherings that included young ones?"

Franklin laughed. "That would be, "Do not try this at home, kiddies, or you could find yourself in a corner with a sore rump."

Elena heard the conversation from her seat and laughed. "We still say that, Father."

"Of course, some of them never seemed to listen," Franklin stated, his eyes going to Ryo.

"Oh tell me about it!" Elena laughed. "Our little Ryo was quite the spitfire when he was young." She smiled over at her nephew who started to blush, as Dee laughed. "I'm glad to see that spitfire coming back."

Dee winked at Elena. "He never left. Believe me on that." He laughed as Ryo jokingly punched his arm.

"Oh geez…" Ryo sighed, rolling his eyes as everyone within hearing laughed.

Chuckling at the exchange on the level above him, Barry stood up and gave the band the pre-arranged signal for them to take their break after finishing their current song. A couple of wireless microphones were brought over to the platform by a member of the technical crew. Barry accepted one with a big grin.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" he asked into the microphone.

The conversations stopped and people went back to their tables.

"It's time to toast the newlyweds," Barry stated, his grin getting bigger. "I'm Barry Wilson, Dee's best man. I'll tell you, it's about damn time I finally have my chance to get back at Dee from when he was my best man." He turned to give Dee a comical menacing glare.

Dee broke out in laughter as chuckles went around the room.

"From what I've been told, and believe me that Dee had proved everyone right, it's the best man's job to embarrass the hell out of the groom."

More laughter and some shouts of agreement came from the guests.

"Ah yes," Barry continued, his eyes resting on Dee. "Revenge is sweet indeed," he crooned. Turning back to the guests, he raised a finger, as if to make a point. "However, just in case no one noticed, but…" in a false whisper he said, "we have two grooms."

Amid laughter and cheers from the guests and wedding party, Barry turned to stare at Ryo.

"Oh God help me," Ryo laughed.

"So…" Barry raised an eyebrow, his attention going back out to the guests. "We have two best men!" he exclaimed, causing more laughter.

Dee laughed along with everyone else, enjoying watching the man he considered his brother entertain their guests. From the moment he decided that Barry was going to be his best man, he knew for certain that the guests were not going to be bored with some long winded corny toast. Barry did well in front of people and always enjoyed the chance to entertain anyone he could get their attention.

Barry looked to the man next to him. "Eddie?" he asked.

"Yes, Barry?" Eddie asked, appearing to look up in surprise at the man speaking.

In an announcer's voice, Barry asked, "Are you ready to fulfill your obligations of a best man?"

Eddie snapped up from his seat to his feet, and saluted. "Sir! Yes sir! I am." He rubbed his hands together, chuckling, looking back at Ryo. "Oh indeed I am!" Looking out at the guests, he accepted the second microphone. "You see folks, Ryo also proved those people right, 'cause he embarrassed the hell outta me too at my wedding. And he didn't stop there. He went right on to embarrass my beautiful, sweet innocent Japanese bride."

"Ohhh," Barry exclaimed, exaggerated, prompting the guests to follow his example as Eddie turned to grin wickedly at Ryo.

Ryo covered his face. "Oh shit," he moaned. "I'm toast."

Eddie laughed. "I believe that's why it's called 'a toast'."

More laughter. Dee took Ryo's hand in his, also laughing. "Don't worry, love. We'll get through this together." He made a mock pained look. "Somehow." He followed it up with an exaggerated gulp. Those who noticed laughed at Dee.

"We should be so lucky," Ryo sighed, then gave Dee a small grin, placing his other hand over Dee's.

"Hey now," Barry exclaimed. "It's your wedding day. We should hope you both get lucky tonight."

Hysterical laughter went around the room, along with applause. The man who still sat behind the drums on the stage, punctuated Barry's comment with a sting.

"If you keep dragging this out, no one will be getting lucky!" Dee exclaimed, causing more laughter.

Eddie laughed. To Barry, he stated, "You're right." He took out a five dollar bill and handed it to Barry. "Dee is bossy." As everyone, including Ryo laughed, Eddie introduced himself, "I'm Eddie Stewart, and for those of you who noticed earlier today at the ceremony, I'm Ryo's best man. Now…." He glanced back to the grooms. "Dee might be thinking that he's safe from me, since we met just last weekend, but let me tell you," his attention went back to the guests, "Dee's the type of character that from the time I first met him and the time I spent around him this week, I have plenty of ammunition."

Barry cleared his throat among more laughing. "You might also think that since Eddie and I met this week, we'd be launching separate attacks. Don't be fooled. We managed to find time this week to get together, compare notes on the grooms and decided we're going to hit them both at the same time."

Ryo and Dee looked at each other genuinely surprised, gulped, then looked back to their best men as the guests laughed and applauded.

"So, let me start," Barry remarked. "I've known Dee since we were five. For those who know him, it might be hard to believe that he was once shy."

Hysterical laughter erupted through the room from those who did know Dee. Dee shook his head, not surprised that would be Barry's first dig. Ryo laughed too, even if he did know it was true. He had heard enough stories of Dee as a toddler from Mother.

"Of course, we are talking five years old. Don't know what happened since," Barry shrugged. More laughs.

Together Barry and Eddie went into a routine, going back and forth through the best men speech, roasting the newlyweds. Barry touched on some of Dee's crazier stunts as a kid and teen, while Eddie entertained with some more enlightening and equally funny for the audience, and embarrassing for Ryo, stories from their military days. There was a dig while pointing out the lack of rice being thrown at any point at the couple, stating they did not need help, as they appeared to be very fertile already. The two men ended with their sincerest blessings and wishes for a long and happy marriage.

The toasting went on, with Diana next. Families were not much gentler, especially Elena, and Mother. Despite being a nun, Mother had a wicked sense of humor, and had the ability to make a dirty joke without actually saying anything dirty. She had always loved to indulge herself when Dee was around, since it usually caused an indignant yelp from her son, and she could enjoy watching Dee being very obviously embarrassed. From halfway through the best men speech, Ryo and Dee's faces were glowing red, either in embarrassment or from laughing so hard, plenty of times from a combination.

Upon the end of the toasts, Dee and Ryo stood, glasses held up and together they thanked family, friends and co-workers for the support, love and sharing their important day with them.

The toasts concluded as the ringing of crystal signaled the two men to kiss again. Ryo turned to face Dee, his arms going around Dee's neck and pulling him close, as Dee slid his arms around Ryo's waist, and they kissed soundly. The majority of the guests and all the wedding party were on their feet, applauding the happy couple.

Ryo smiled as they pulled briefly apart, their eyes meeting. "Here's to your inner marshmallow," he said softly to Dee, referring to a line from Barry during the best man speech. Barry had mentioned that Dee was waiting for the right man to bring out his inner marshmallow.

"I'm always sweet on you, hubby," Dee replied, and kissed Ryo again.


	27. Party! Party!

Dee and Ryo had started to mingle with the guests who sat in the front tables

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 27 – Party! Party!

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Anyone up for one more chapter? I'm going to start calling this the wedding weekend. LOL! Coming up shortly (as in within the hour) will be an interlude for Dee and Ryo's wedding night (but over at the real adult places, like AFF and , so if you're of age, keep an eye out over there). Once I get through the wedding, the rest of The Unexpected II will be posted through the month of August.

# # # # # # # #

Dee and Ryo had started to mingle with the guests who sat in the front tables. Ryo looked smug, as he noted with satisfaction every table had a decent mix. Some of the older MacLeans sat with a combination of friends, neighbors or co-workers of the couple. Scattered among the tables were also various members of Lanes and Aokis. Some tables the tension was evident, while others there seemed to be no tension at all.

Dee had also noticed that among the tables further back, now that dinner was over, people were exchanging seats to form a little clique among the MacLeans who were still not convinced Ryo had made the right choice. He had also noticed that from one or two of the tables in the back, he was getting glares, but when he looked over in the general direction, he would be greeted with big phony smiles planted on their faces.

The band returned from their break, having had a chance to eat some of the food and were tuning their instruments.

Ryo looked over in the direction of the stage. Taking Dee's hand in his, he smiled and leaned over to kiss Dee's cheek. "Dancing, some cake, a little more dancing, and the reception is over," he quietly said to Dee.

"Then we have the after party," was Dee's reply.

"Only for an hour. Then…" Ryo left his sentence hanging, raising an eyebrow as he watched the grin spread on Dee's face.

"It's wedding night time!" Dee remarked, a little louder than he intended.

Ryo shook his head laughing as their co-workers yelled out some comments, while Ryo and Dee's younger cousins laughed. The Japanese cousins covered their mouths, blushing a little while they giggled. "Um yeah, wedding night time," Ryo replied.

Dee moved to kiss Ryo lightly on the lips, smiling. "I love you," he whispered.

Ryo put his arms around Dee. "I love you too. So so much." They kissed again, causing crystal to start chiming.

A clique of biddies in a back table wrinkled their noses. "What nerve. Such a vulgar display. It should be illegal to do that sort of thing in public. Or even private," one of Ryo's great aunts commented, while the others agreed.

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with them being gay," they heard Estelle's voice come from behind them. "I guess anything to do with love is vulgar when one has not known what that is for over 50 years."

The woman turned in surprise to face Estelle, while the other biddies made themselves busy going through their bags, or looking elsewhere around the room.

"Honestly, Estelle, I'm surprised you let this farce go this far."

"Which farce would you be referring to?" Estelle asked.

"This joke of a wedding. Two men getting married, as if they really have any business being together."

"It's not a joke, Addie. The two lads are very much in love, and that means they belong together."

Addie shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe you managed to talk Franklin into allowing this. And to claim we now have that… that freak in our family, why it's…."

Estelle stepped closer to the woman, clenching her purse tightly. "I think that's enough, Addie."

"You deny that Randy married a freak of nature?"

"Dee is not a freak!" Estelle exclaimed. "He is a wonderful and fine man, who loves my Randy, and will treat him better than any woman out there. And…" she pointed a menacing finger in Addie's face, "I don't care if Dee is a man. He has the ability to conceive and is now Carrying the MacLean heir."

"How wonderful… our family is being passed down to a monster child. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Then why are you here?" Estelle demanded.

"To mourn the end of what a fine family we used to be."

Estelle reached around the woman to pick up a martini filled glass and threw it in Addie's face. "Get out," the MacLean matriarch growled. "Get out and I never want to see your face at any family function again."

Addie jumped up with a squawk. "How dare you?! Fine. I'll have my own functions and you and your freaks are not allowed!" she yelled.

Heads were turning in their direction. Dee and Ryo also glanced over to see what the disturbance was.

Ryo shook his head. "There goes Grandma chasing out the undesirables." He chuckled.

Dee frowned a little, having faintly caught the word freak. "Shouldn't that be us as the 'undesirables'?" he commented.

"Oh Dee, don't listen to windbags like Addie and her crew," Eunice stated from her seat and closest to Dee. "Her and her likes are bound to dry up and turn to dust soon enough, leaving the family to our generation. And we have no problem with gays, Carriers and cute little babies born to two of the most gorgeous men I ever saw in my life."

Heads around their table nodded, even those who were not MacLeans.

"You are also very welcome in the Aokis, Dee," Ryo's cousin Aiko said. "Obasan loves you. And our family, as traditional as we are, do not bow to prejudice."

Dee smiled at Eunice and Aiko. "Thank you. It means a lot to me."

"Love is love, Dee," one of the hard working class Hispanic church goers from St. Joseph's stated. "And I can see you and Ryo love each other very much. Don't let narrow-minded fools ruin this most beautiful day of yours."

Dee smiled his thanks to the man.

One of his own cousins from Ireland winked at him. "You don't want me to start next, do you," the young man remarked.

Dee shook his head. "No, Spencer, I don't. But I hear your message. Thank you, too."

Ryo was rubbing Dee's back reassuringly. Everyone sitting at the table near them started to chime their crystal, making others do the same. Ryo smiled, pulling Dee into his arms. "See? There are some people who do like to watch two beautiful men kiss."

Dee laughed and met Ryo halfway as they kissed, with those at the tables close to them cheering them on.

Ryo pulled away slightly and said softly to Dee, "We're married now. So everyone can get up and walk out on us. It won't stop me from staying married to you, nor will it stop me from having our first dance."

Dee laughed, hugging Ryo tighter. "You're right, because I feel the same. It doesn't matter what everyone thinks or says, we're married now, and I swear you're stuck with me forever."

"And a day," Ryo pointed out.

"Can I ask our grooms to come down to the dance floor?" they heard one of the male singers ask from the stage. "We also invite everyone else to follow them and gather around the newlyweds."

"Ah," Ryo remarked. "Speaking of, I think it's time to swoon in your arms." He winked impishly at Dee.

"You can swoon, only if I can do vapors," Dee remarked with a laugh. He lightly kissed Ryo again, before taking his husband's hand in his. "If everyone will excuse us – or just get up and come along," Dee said.

Everyone around them laughed as they stood up to follow as Dee lead Ryo to the dance floor. Other guests were getting up to head over to the dance floor. Except for Addie, who was only a few seconds ahead of the security guards, as she and her biddy crew left the reception.

Estelle shook her head as she noticed Franklin looking for her. Her eyes went to her grandson and his new husband as they made their way across the large room to the area designated for dancing. To Estelle, her grandson was a fine and decent man, who worked hard for his money. He believed in his work as a detective because he liked to help others, and did what he could to make the city a safer place to live and travel to. Dee had the same beliefs in his job as Randy. What she liked about Dee was despite his background and his job, he was not jaded. He still had an almost innocent quality about him when it came to his belief in the human race. It was no wonder he would find out he was a Carrier. What she loved about Dee was he treated Randy as Estelle always felt her grandson should be treated by his significant other. It was a bit surprising at first to discover his significant other was another man, but after listening to her grandson talk about their relationship, or just about Dee, and then formally meeting Dee as her grandson's fiancé, she had no doubt that Dee was the only person who could make Randy as happy as she wished for her grandson. Add in the baby on the way, Estelle could not but give her full support and love to the couple.

"Mrs. MacLean," a man in his 30's, wearing a designer suit called to her as she watched Franklin stand near the front, searching for her.

"Yes, Albert," she replied to her assistant.

"Will you be wanting the same for that crew as Harriet?"

Estelle nodded. "Oh, indeed yes I do. Buy out everything you can of their family business shares – in Dee's name."

Albert laughed. "I do love the way you think. You should hurry now. You don't want to miss your grandson's first married dance."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll talk to you later, Albert." Estelle rushed off, waving to get Franklin's attention. She met up with him at the edge of the dance floor. Guests parted as they made their way toward the front of the circle surrounding Dee and Ryo.

There was still a handful of MacLeans who stayed behind and gathered together at one table, starting to talk about the gall of those two men and how appalled they were over family monarchs' support of such a travesty. And to throw poor Addie out of the reception like she was trash. Estelle MacLean was out of control, or so the little group agreed. They felt Franklin and Estelle should have disowned Randy, rather than mock something as sacred and traditional as a MacLean wedding. They spoke of Dee as a freak, on how gays should not be allowed to marry, and how both Randy and Dee did not belong to the MacLeans as far as they were concerned. They mocked and talked at a back table of an expensive 160 a plate wedding reception, still eating the fine food and drinking the top shelf beverages provided to the guests. They made fun of the Aokis, deciding the Japanese whores deserved freaks like Randy and Dee.

All in all, among complimenting the chef on the food that was selected by Randy and Dee, they decided it was a bleak day for the MacLean family.

Meanwhile, on the dance floor, Ryo and Dee stood in the center with supporting family, friends and co-workers surrounding them.

"Ryo and Dee have picked a song that they told me sums up the best how they feel about each other. So if you would excuse us as we attempt to do justice to this beautiful timeless tribute of love," the singer addressed everyone on the dance floor, "everyone, I present to you for their first dance – Dee and Ryo Laytner-MacLean. They are the best thing that ever happened to them."

As the guest applauded, all the lights on the dance floor area went out for a moment. As the music started, a spotlight came on the happy couple. The light was white with the L-M insignia in blue on the floor. Dee and Ryo placed their arms around the other's waist as the band played "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" made popular by Glady Knight and the Pips.

The couple danced in a slow circle, never taking their eyes from the other. At one point Ryo transferred his arms around Dee's neck. Dee pulled him close to kiss him softly, sighing happily. He started to sing the chorus along with the singer, "If anyone should ever write my life story, for whatever reason there might be, you'll be there between each line of pain and glory… 'cause you're the best thing that ever happened… to me."

Ryo's arms left Dee's neck and settled on the baby swell, his smile bigger. The band went into the next verse, and Ryo softly sang along as Dee put his arms around Ryo's neck. "..there have been times when times were hard, but always somehow I made it through, cause for every moment that I spent hurting, there was a moment that I spent on just loving you."

Together, with mouths close, they sang the chorus.

The couple hardly noticed the crowd gathered around them, except for one moment for Ryo. It was not lost to Ryo that he had the love of his life, who was a man, in his arms as they danced close, while his family, their friends and co-workers looked on. He could not remember a larger crowd to be this intimate with Dee in front of, and he loved the feeling.

They switched their arms' positions as the song played on. As the closing notes of the song were played, with arms still around each other, they kissed.

The guests applauded and cheered as Ryo and Dee stopped dancing but did not move apart when the music stopped. They continued to gaze in the other's eyes, grinning happily. Both men seemed to be glowing.

JJ sniffled and took out a pink textured handkerchief, that matched his vest and tie, to dab this eyes. "That was just lovely," he sighed. "I hope when I get married – if I ever do – I want it to be as lovely as this."

Drake gulped, his eyes going around at all the décor', realizing he could not even estimate how much everything cost, and simply nodded. "Yeah, me too," he finished lamely.

When Dee and Ryo finally pulled apart, Mother was called up to the dance floor. "Dee asked his mother to pick the song for the next dance. I understand this was a special song when Dee was a little boy. Are you ready?"

Mother smiled at Dee, then toward the stage, nodding. Dee put his arms around his mother, smiling at her. "How lucky I am. First I get to dance with my handsome husband, and now I get to dance with a beautiful woman."

Mother batted at him playfully, blushing. "Oh Dee, stop."

"But you are," Dee replied, kissing her wrinkled forehead. "You're my mom."

The music started and Dee's grin grew as mother and son fell into step, dancing to a rendition of Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World".

Ryo stood along the front of the circle, with Elena next to him, watching his husband smile down at the woman who, in all ways except for giving birth, was his mother.

"You and me against the world. Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world. When all the others turn their backs and walk away, you can count on me to stay," one of the female singers sang.

Mother and son slowly swayed in time to the song Ryo remembered Mother telling him was one of the songs a much younger Dee would dance with her, in the solitude of her room or the attic. Mother loved to dance, and Dee would always be the first to ask if he could be her dance partner. As a result, despite his background and reputation as a 'street rat", Dee was able to dance to anything along with the best of them. The first time Ryo found himself fluidly waltzing with Dee, he was amazed, but the more they danced together, the less amazed Ryo was, and thrilled to have a dance partner like Dee.

"Remember when the circus came to town, and you were frightened by the clown?" Mother looked up and smiled at Dee as the singer sang on. "Wasn't it nice to be around someone that you knew? Someone who was big and strong and looking out for you." Dee grinned back at her.

Dee rested his head against his mother's head, smiling fondly at childhood memories. Memories where he was loved, protected, never knew what it meant to be alone. He never cared about finding his biological parents because he had someone he called "mommy" as a young child, and even a "daddy". Mother and Jess were more than enough for him to call his parents. He wished Jess could have been with them then, but he was certain in his own way, he was.

"You and me against the world. Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world. And for all the times we've cried, I always felt that the odds were on our side."

Mother held her son tightly. From the first time baby Dee was placed in her arms, she knew there was something different about that baby. He would never be one of the many other babies that came and went in her time at the orphanage. Dee became her son. He clung to her, wailed and cried whenever he felt he could be taken from his mother. He hid behind her around other adults besides those who worked at the orphanage. He became her son, her pride and joy. Even with many other children around, there were times when it was just her and Dee. When Dee came of age to leave the orphanage and go off on his own, he left for college in Japan. He wrote home and called, saying he loved it there, and how he could have remained there. Two things made Dee return to New York City upon graduation: to become a cop in the city his father was a detective, to fulfill a promise made upon Jess' death, and to be close to his mother.

At first Dee's visits would be months between, but he had the Academy and a part time job working with Barry's construction company. He also had his art. Four months later, upon graduating the police academy, Dee put the majority of his time and effort in his new job, knowing it was a career. He would still call her in between his visits. He always made sure he was around for holidays, and if she ever needed some repairs, all she needed to do was call, and Dee would make the time to help her. After the old building was destroyed in a bombing, and Dee thought he had lost his mother, he started to show up more than every few months. He would bring Ryo around with him half the time. By the time the two moved in together, Dee and Ryo would go to the orphanage every other week, at least. They would pool in their resources and do more in helping out the children, much to Mother's chagrin. She already thought Dee did enough, put enough of his money toward the children, but obviously Dee, and Ryo, did not think so.

Throughout his life, every major thing that happened in Dee's life, he would go to her shortly and let her know. That included when Dee and Ryo first became a couple. When they decided to move in together. Most recently when they found out there was a baby on the way, and on Christmas Day when Dee could not wait to show off his engagement ring to her.

Both were lost in thoughts of what they meant to the other. It did not matter that she did not give birth to Dee. They were mother and son, united, and dancing at her son's wedding.

Ryo smiled, watching Dee's face flush warmly with his memories. He took Elena's hand and squeezed it. Elena, who was like a second mom. The woman who did everything she could to be there for Ryo as a mother.

At that moment, while he watched Dee and Mother dance, he knew that she was not his mother. He wished his mom was there with them, that he could dance with her to a special song as his husband did with his mom. Tears filled his eyes and his vision of Dee and Mother blurred. Off to the side, he swore he saw his mother, looking as lovely as the last time he saw her. She held out her arms as if to invite him for a dance. For the rest of the song, while a part of his mind was aware of Dee and Mother, another part of his mind, danced with his mom.

"And when one of us is gone, and one of us is left to carry on, then remembering will have to do. Our memories alone will get us through. Think about the days of me and you, Of you and me against the world."

In his mind's dance, Rayna told him how handsome he had become, how proud she was of him. She told him both her and his dad were excited about the baby, and how they loved Dee. She told him everything he wanted to hear from his mother.

Suddenly he found himself with Dee standing before him, looking concerned, with Elena griping his arm. The music had stopped. Dee and Mother had finished their dance, and everyone was waiting for the next couple to take the floor.

"Ryo, what's wrong?" Dee was asking him, putting an arm around Ryo.

Ryo smiled up at Dee. "Nothing," he honestly replied as Dee wiped the tears on his cheek. "Everything's right, Dee. I'll tell you about it later." He leaned up to kiss his husband and then turned to Elena. "I guess we're waiting for me to get my shit together so I can have a dance with this lovely lady?"

Elena laughed. After a quick study, she came to the same conclusion as Dee. Whatever had happened, whatever caused the tears was a good thing, and to let it go. She squeezed his hand. "If that lovely lady is me, then you're right."

Ryo lead her out to the middle of the dance floor.

"Ryo also allowed his aunt to pick the song for their dance. Elena has picked, "I Hope You Dance" by LeAnn Womack."

Elena smiled at Ryo as he put an arm around her waist, taking her hand in his. "Ah Elena," he smiled at his aunt.

"It's true, Ryo. You know that's how I always felt, especially after we lost your parents."

"I know," he said, leaning down to kiss the side of her head as the band started to play the song.

If Ryo could not have his mother with him, he was glad he had Elena. When his parents died, she took Ryo in, when she did not have to. Her own parents were in Europe at the time of Frank and Rayna's deaths. Upon hearing the news while in Paris, Estelle had a minor heart attack, which kept them both in Paris well past their son's burial. Ryo knew that as much as they loved him, had they been in the States at the time, they would have felt he was old enough to be on his own. He still had some of his parents' assets that were not frozen upon the investigation of their murder. He probably could have managed on his own, except Elena knew he needed the emotional support. She gave him a home to stay in until he was ready for his first tentative steps on his own. At the age of twenty, he joined the Army. He had put on his wish list in boot camp to be stationed in Japan, hoping to get to spend some time with his Grandmother, who refused to return to New York after burying her daughter. He was surprised when his luck held and he was stationed in the Kanto Plain area, at Camp Zama. Kamakura was a short ride away, no further than going to Tokyo, and was the local beach area. He spent every other weekend at the family home with Akira and his Japanese family. When he got out of the Army and went back to New York, hoping to enter the police academy soon, he had planned to return to Japan for vacations, but it never happened. The one time he took a vacation out of the country, it was to England. Yet he remained in constant touch with his grandmother and her family through phone calls and eventually emails.

Upon his return to New York, Elena made it clear her home was still his. He had moved back in with Elena and Rick, saving his money otherwise spent on rent until a few months before he found out he had made detective. He had just settled into the apartment on East 15th Street when he went to his first day in Criminal Investigations at the 27th Precinct.

The day he met Dee, the man who was now his new husband.

After Ryo and Elena's dance, the band started to play the Rodgers-Hart standard, "Manhattan". Ryo danced with Mother, and Dee with Elena. Midway through the song, they acquired new dance partners. Ryo danced with Akira, and Dee with Estelle, while Mother danced with Franklin, and Elena with Rick. Into the next song, Dee and Ryo switched partners, with Dee dancing with Akira, and Ryo with Estelle. The song ended with Ryo and Dee dancing together again, family paired off and joined by their wedding party.

The next song Dee and Ryo stood on the sidelines, allowing for their wedding party to dance to a rendition of Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun". While they had some same sex pairing in the party, they knew some of those pairs were not inclined that way. The women were more open to dance together for a bit before moving to other partners, to let the heterosexual men feel less uncomfortable.

Drake found himself at first having to dance with JJ. His body was rigid and he maintained a distance. All the while, his instinct was to pull JJ's lithe, compact body close to his and hold him tight as they danced. He wanted to kiss JJ, tell him how handsome he looked right then, but he did not dare. So he put more distance between them than necessary. It did not go unnoticed by Ryo and Dee, who frowned a little when their eyes settled on the two partners. It was with relief when Drake grabbed onto Janet as a dance partner for the rest of the song. JJ's eyes started to well up with tears, but he bravely shook them off and accepted a dance with Pedro.

The next song, "Let's Get This Party Started", opened the dance floor to everyone, and for the rest of the evening, there would be dancing, with a pause between for the newlyweds to cut the cake.

Dee and Ryo danced the next song, before they went wandering off out of the room. They stopped in the Terrace Room for a small plate with something to nibble on, then went onto the Museum Club, where after getting some refreshments, they settled down on a couch. The music was still able to be heard, the room vibrating with the beat. Dee leaned against Ryo, placing his feet up on a small table with a sigh.

Other guests on their way to get more drinks or to go out on the terrace for fresh air or a smoke stopped to speak to the happy couple, who got more comfortable on the couch as they enjoyed their snack and drinks, and holding the other.

It was in the third song that some of their wedding party ambled out for something cold to drink, and found the grooms still on the couch. They had moved positions and now Dee was leaning back against the arm of the couch, with his bare feet on Ryo's lap, while Ryo gently massaged Dee's feet, as they watched their guests go by, talking and sharing laughs with them.

Later at one point, while Ryo and Dee were on the terrace overlooking South Street and the East River, a few more photos were taken of the couple, including some with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.

When they returned to the Bridge Room, carrying more beverages and plates with something to nibble on, they went to the platform, intending to sit at their table for a song or two, before getting up and dancing more. As they approached the table, they noticed Mother and Akira were taking a break from mingling and dancing. Estelle and Franklin were mingling with guests, making sure to talk to everyone, not just their own family members. Ryo was proud of his grandparents, knowing they had come a long way from when they first found out that he was getting married to a man. He realized that despite any arguments he found himself in with them in the past, especially with his grandfather, the elder MacLeans still loved him unconditionally. They not only accepted the marriage, but they embraced Dee as one of their own, and announced that their child, no matter how untraditional in a very traditional family, was the next MacLean heir. His grandparents looked forward to having the chance to see their great grandchild. If anything else, it only made the day more special to Ryo than it already was. He smiled at his other grandmother as they stopped so Dee could quietly speak to Mother, asking if she was enjoying herself. It did not take long for the four to engage in a conversation as Ryo and Dee sat at their table. Akira also accepted Dee as family, and it was obvious by the way Dee spoke to the elder Japanese woman that he was very fond of her too.

Mother and Akira left them when the two best men came over to ask the women to dance. Dee smiled as he watched Mother head down the steps, escorted by Barry, while Eddie escorted Akira. Mother loved to dance, but did not get much a chance anymore. As sweet as most of the children under her guidance can be, she would tell Dee he was the only one of her boys who would ask to dance with her in the orphanage.

Dee and Ryo sat out another song, sitting close and watching their guests enjoy the reception.

Dee sighed happily. "For the most part, this turned out wonderful. Not too many incidents that we feared, huh?"

Ryo laughed. "I think Grandma flushed out anyone who might make a bigger scene before it could happen." He took Dee's hand in his and kissed it. "We could be alone right now, and it'll still be perfect."

Dee nodded. "Yeah. But…." His eyes went back to their guests and he had a soft smile on his face. "It means so much to see so many people who are with us on this."

"I know. I feel the same way. I'm glad we went all out. It seems to scream out loud that we're married and fuck anyone who doesn't like it." Ryo winked impishly at Dee.

Dee laughed and leaned over to lightly kiss Ryo's lips. "I love it when you say things like that."

"Does it turn you on?" Ryo grinned, rubbing his nose against Dee's.

"Yes," Dee grinned back.

"Then I guess I better hold off on the dirty talk to you until we're ready to head to the hotel." He quickly kissed Dee and pulled away, laughing at the look Dee gave him.

"Just for that, you better talk dirty to me later," Dee warned, then laughed.

"I just might," Ryo replied.

"Oh, you're teasing me now."

"Yes. I am." Ryo grinned and laughed more.

"Listen, I think they're playing one of our songs," Dee said as the band started to play, "Be My Baby". "May I have this dance with my handsome husband?"

Ryo took Dee's hand and stood up. "Of course." Together, the happy couple went down the steps and joined their guests as they danced to the song.

When the song finished, Ryo went up toward the stage, getting the band's attention. One of the singers came to the edge. Dee, along with their guests on the dance floor, watched, wondering what Ryo was up to.

"He loves you so much," Dee heard JJ softly say from next to him.

Dee smiled at JJ. "Yeah, he does. I'm sorry, JJ. But you and I were never meant to be."

JJ nodded sadly. "I know that. I look at Ryo with you, and I know I could never love you the way he does. You're lucky, Dee. You didn't just marry the man you love. You married your other half." He smiled at Dee, pointing a finger at him. "So in the far off future, should you ever do anything to jeopardize what you have, I'll kick your ass."

Dee laughed. "Don't worry. I know what I have and never want to risk losing it. Any of it – Ryo, Bikky, the baby. I want it all."

JJ hugged Dee, then pulled away sniffling. "Oh oh, I think you're going to be in the spotlight again."

Dee snorted. "I've been in the spotlight all freakin' day long, JJ, in case you haven't noticed."

"Yeah well…."

"Hey, is there anything I should know?" Ryo broke in, grinning at Dee and JJ.

"No. JJ was just telling me how lucky I am and promising to kick my ass if I get stupid enough to mess things up," Dee remarked.

"Okay, I'll let him live for hugging you then." Ryo chuckled and slapped JJ on his shoulder. "If you don't mind, I need Dee."

"Have fun," JJ said.

"What are you up to?" Dee asked as Ryo pulled him to the center of the dance floor. Once again, their guests surrounded them, as lights went down again.

"We just got this very special request from Ryo to Dee," one of the female singers announced. "We're just going to start the song."

Dee's eyes went wide for a moment, before they started to glitter with unshed tears as the band started to play, "With Arms Wide Open". To Dee's further surprise, he realized Ryo was wearing a wireless microphone. As Ryo pulled Dee into his arms to dance, Ryo sang along to the music. Lights swirled around the couple as the newlyweds danced to the song about a father welcoming his unborn child. Tears streaked Dee's face and his smile seemed to glow as he gazed lovingly at Ryo. As their guests watched, some had to dab their eyes from the beauty of the moment. Everyone was smiling. As the song went into the last verse, the families were invited to join in the dance. Estelle and Franklin went onto the dance floor first, dancing next to Ryo and Dee, and further setting the example for the rest of the MacLeans, reaffirming that Dee and Ryo's unborn child was a MacLean, with no further argument. Barry escorted Mother to join Estelle and Franklin, while Tsubasa escorted Akira. Elena and Rick joined the group, followed by Ryo's other aunts and uncles, along with Clarisse and Siobhan. By the end of the song, there were assorted Lanes, MacLeans and Aokis surrounding the inner group.

As the last notes of the song played, Ryo had his hands on Dee's waist and he bent down to kiss the swell. "That's for you, Chibi," Ryo murmured lovingly to their child. Dee's fingers went through Ryo's locks, smiling down at his husband. When Ryo straightened up, Dee pulled him close for a kiss. "Thank you," he sighed happily. "Thank you so much." With his head against Ryo's, he turned to look at the others who still stood close. "Thank you everyone."

Applause filled the room as the immediate family members embraced the two men.

At that moment, three families became one.

Ryo was aware of it when he saw MacLeans and Aokis joined in combined support, alongside of Lanes. It was his turn to weep at the beauty of that moment, hoping it was a sign of times to come.

"I'm so happy," Ryo whispered to Dee, before he cupped his dark haired husband's face and kissed him.

The group left the dance floor and headed for the Museum Club, where they settled on the couch with Ryo and Dee just to carry on the moment and further the bond as a united front.

Inside the band continued to play music for guests to dance. JJ had gone back to the platform, where he sat by himself, watching guests still on the other side of the room mingle, while the majority danced. Among them was Drake, dancing with different woman. JJ knew it did not mean anything to Drake, that he was just dancing. It was the way they had planned it. Especially at that moment. He did not want them to come out to their friends that day, taking any of the spotlight from Ryo and Dee. JJ expected Drake to make his rounds, dancing with various women. JJ was supposed to be dancing with anyone he wanted. Only he did not feel like it. Especially after watching Dee and Ryo. JJ wanted what Dee had. He was sure Drake was it for him, as Ryo was for Dee, but he wanted more. He wanted to dance in front of family and friends with Drake. He wanted to feel the same support Dee and Ryo received throughout the day. JJ wanted to start thinking about what he would want for his wedding, and feel like one day, he too, could start a family.

He watched as Drake came off the dance floor with one of Ryo's female cousins, both of them laughing, seeming to enjoy the other's company. He could not help but feel jealous. He wanted to be with Drake, mingle with other guests, share secret jokes in the way they had for years, long before Drake admitted to loving him. Even those things they would do together before then was off limits that day, as far as Drake was concerned. It made JJ resentful.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Tsubasa came up to him. "Why the long face?" Tsubasa asked, as he sat down next to JJ.

JJ shrugged. "I didn't think I had one. Just wanting to dance, I guess, and not having a dance partner."

Tsubasa had a drink from his glass and chuckled. "If that's your only problem, then let's dance."

JJ looked surprised. "C'mon. We can't."

It was Tsubasa's turn to look surprised. "We can't? Why?"

"B-because… I'm gay. And you're married. To a woman."

Tsubasa laughed as he stood up. "I asked you to dance. Not check into a love motel." He held out his hand toward JJ. "So we dance?"

JJ did not know what to say, other than mutely nod his head. He stood up and took Tsubasa's hand, allowing the other man who was only slightly taller than him to lead him to the dance floor.

By the next song, he found himself dancing with David, and then Vince. The song after, one of Dee's female cousins and Yuki. He vaguely was aware that the newlyweds were back and had also split off, dancing with friends of theirs.

As much fun as JJ was having, he also knew he was mad at Drake. Extremely pissed would more sum it up.

The music stopped as a singer asked everyone to gather over by the cake. Dee and Ryo, hand in hand, strolled across the room to take their place over by the wedding cake. Sharon stood near the table and gestured for them to go between the screen and the table. Dee looked over at the space and Sharon laughed.

"Of course we made sure there was room enough for both of you to fit behind there, Dee," she said with a wink. "And still have room for your husband."

Dee blushed slightly as Ryo broke out in laughter. Ryo's arm went around his waist and started to guide Dee to the indicated space as the guests watched on.

The band played an instrumental version of "I Say A Little Prayer" as Ryo and Dee posed with the cake before them, all smiles. They could not help but kiss again before taking the knife to cut the cake. With Dee holding onto the handle and Ryo's hand holding Dee's, they made the first cut into the bottom layer of the cake. They paused so Ryo could hold the handle as Dee held Ryo's hand for the second slice. Ryo continued to make the small cut between the first two while Dee took a plate from the table. He held it for Ryo to pick up the slice with the cake server that matched the knife and put it on the plate. As Ryo put down the server, Dee picked up two forks, handing one to Ryo.

Pictures were being taken as the couple cut their cake, with the Brooklyn Bridge standing out beyond the window and through the screen backdrop.

Together, they cut off a piece from the plate Dee held. With a smile, Dee held out his fork for Ryo to take the cake from.

"Mmm… delicious," Ryo remarked, his eyes gleaming. The bottom layer was chocolate raspberry mousse torte. He held out his fork to Dee, who ate the piece with an impish grin.

"Yes, it is. We get more than this, do we?" Dee joked.

"Of course," Ryo laughed, pulling Dee to him. "It's our cake, so we can get a little of each layer."

"Oh yes, please!" Dee exclaimed, also laughing.

From what they had gathered speaking to Mother, Estelle and Akira, most of their guests would eat the chocolate raspberry mousse torte, so they selected that for the largest layer. The next layer was tiramisu, the middle was a truffle torte. The layer after that was triple vanilla with raspberries and the small top layer was triple vanilla, for the minority of guests who preferred something simple to the fancier type of cake and fillings. The cake was large enough and the way it was to be cut up, each guest could have more than one piece, should they not be able to make up their minds on one type.

To more applause, the couple kissed, licking frosting off the other's lips. Someone handed them two flute shaped glasses filled with sparkling cider, and they held them up toward their guests. They intertwined their arms and drank from the glass, and kissed again.

As the cake was cut up, more pictures were taken of Ryo and Dee finishing the slice on the plate Dee still held, feeding each other. They were asked to move so there could be photos of the two away from the screen, and have an unobstructed view of the Brooklyn Bridge behind the happy couple.

Dee and Ryo joined the rest of the wedding party at the platform as cake, along with coffee and tea was served. The band continued to play dance music, since there was no set time for guests to sit and eat their cake. If once they had their cake, they chose to walk around, or get up to dance a song, it was encouraged.

Much to Ryo and Dee's chagrin, as cake plates were being taken away, the band was announcing it was time for the Chicken Dance, at Estelle's request. They groaned as they went to join the rest of the guests on the dance floor. To Dee's amusement, he managed to get out of doing the dance, along with a few other pregnant guests of theirs. Ryo, had no such luck, as he was surrounded by his grandparents, expecting to lead off the dance. Dee laughed so hard, he barely made it to the restroom at the end of the song, while a red faced Ryo was hugged and kissed by his family. Dee returned from the restroom in time for the bunny hop, which somehow Ryo had managed to get JJ to lead off, to everyone's amusement. Dee joined Ryo and their families for that song. The next song found Dee and Ryo leading all their family and friends in a conga line that went around the room.

After that song, Dee and Ryo found themselves sitting at the closest table, both flushed from laughter, while Dee caught his breath. Once again, as guests came up to talk to them, Ryo had Dee's shoes off and feet in his lap to massage Dee's feet.

"He takes such good care of me," Dee announced to Yuki, Martha and Eunice, who were closest to them.

"I see," Yuki agreed with a grin.

"He better," Eunice replied.

"You're both so adorable together," was Martha's remark.

As Vince and David walked by, Vince grinned at Dee. "I guess it's safe to assume Ryo already has that part under control. It'll really come in handy when those ankles start swelling up." His grin turned wicked as Dee blanched at the thought of having swollen ankles.

"Ryo, keep massaging," Dee remarked.

Ryo joined Vince and David's laughter. "Yes, Mast-tah," Ryo drawled, gently patting Dee's feet. "Relax Dee. You'll survive it, just like everything else having this baby. So chill." Ryo smiled lovingly at Dee.

Dee sighed, then smiled at Ryo as Vince and David went off to speak to other guests.

Once again, they had found their way to sit at their table at the platform. As Ryo had earlier promised to Dee, if felt as if they had just arrived when they realized there was only a half hour left to the reception. It was time for them to give their surprise to the guests. Ryo found Sharon and got her attention, signaling to the wedding coordinator that it was time. With a grin, Sharon nodded and went off to get things prepared.

Dee stood up with a grin, holding his hand to Ryo. Ryo took Dee's hand and stood. Together the couple walked down the steps as the band stopped playing. Even the wedding party looked in curiosity, wondering what was next. A singer called everyone back to gather on the dance floor. Instead of taking the center floor, Dee and Ryo went onto the stage and stood with the band. Everyone was very curious by then.

Dee took a microphone and faced their guests. "Once again, Ryo and I want to thank everyone for sharing this truly wonderful and blessed day with us. It means more than you could ever think."

Ryo, now holding a microphone nodded in agreement. "It does," he replied, choked up with emotion. "Thank you all."

Dee pulled Ryo closer to him, his arm around Ryo's shoulders. "Now, had this been a traditional wedding, this would be the time for the bride to throw the bouquet and the groom to take off the garter and toss it. As Barry mentioned before, just in case someone still have not noticed…." Dee grinned impishly. "There is no bride."

"Even if one of us is dressed in white," Ryo adlibbed, his eyes full of love for Dee. "I was almost tempted to get him a bouquet." He winked as Dee and their guests laughed. "Seriously, Dee and I at first thought to skip this part and just continue on with the rest of the reception. Then we thought that the bouquet and garter throwing can be something to giving back to those who gave so much to a couple on their wedding day. So, we decided we had to do something." He leaned up to kiss Dee's cheek.

"The big problem with throwing bouquets and garters is it only extends to the single guests," Dee continued, smiling. "We wanted no guest to be excluded. Also only one person gets the prize. That won't work here either. So, if everyone in the back would just move up a little more toward us please…."

Dee's eyes went up as he finished speaking. The netting on the ceiling above them pulled away, reveling a large oblong object in the wedding colors, that was lowered a few feet. Colored ropes fell from the object, and techs managed to get around the guests to grab the ends and make their way to the stage, handing one end to Dee and another to Ryo.

"Can we ask everyone to countdown from ten please?" Ryo asked. "Ten…."

Most of their guests started to countdown along with Ryo and Dee, the anticipation growing. At zero, Dee and Ryo pulled on their ropes. The object pulled apart with a sound like a large Chinese party favor, and hundreds of silk fans with silk flowers attached to them fell. The favors went blowing in the wind of fans turned on so the favors would scatter and not fall down in one place. Most of the guests, caught up in the excitement, found themselves scrambling for a prize. To Ryo's amusement, he hoped someone was getting on film the image of some of his more uptight relatives actually scrambling for a prize. He had seen it only once or twice before, and only when those particular family members were having the time of their lives. Ryo felt proud that his wedding to Dee was now included among the best times in the MacLean family event history.

As the last of the favors were picked up from the floor, Ryo and Dee both believed there were fifteen more minutes of dancing before the last song. It was to their surprise as they stepped off the stage, and joined by Estelle, Franklin, Mother, Akira, Elena and Rick, that a singer asked if everyone would now gather over on the South Street side of the room. Dee and Ryo were led to the corner where the cake had been and now cleared away, leaving an open spot. Bikky and Carol were waiting for them, having been directed to the spot too.

More photos were taken as when Ryo and Dee went to stand with Bikky and Carol, they had Bikky stand just before them, in the middle, both men having a hand on their son's shoulders. There were other photos of the three through the day, but the first with the bridge in the background.

"Can we ask everyone to give their attention toward the Brooklyn Bridge please," a female singer asked. "Estelle and Franklin MacLean have a special wedding treat for our happy newlyweds. We have worked together with them to hopefully make this work to everyone's satisfaction. I have also been told by Estelle and Franklin that while this was their doing, for Dee and Ryo to consider this a gift from their families. So from Estelle, Franklin, Maria, Akira, Elena, Rick and Bikky… Ryo and Dee, this one's for you."

Murmurs went around the room as Ryo and Dee gazed over at Estelle and Franklin. Estelle giggled and indicated that they look out the window toward the bridge. Mother hugged onto Rick's arm, laughing with delight and excitement, alerting Dee that she was let in on the surprise. Akira, Elena and Rick also seemed to be in on the know. Bikky looked up in wonder, and Carol gazed at them in curiosity.

"You heard them," Ryo told the teens. "Just look and we'll find out."

Dee gasped as all the lights on the Brooklyn Bridge went out.

"Oh my God, Grandma…." Ryo uttered, remembering Estelle telling them over that first lunch meeting she had a special surprise for them. "Only a MacLean," he whispered to Dee.

The band struck up the first notes of "I Am What I Am" as the first flares of fireworks went upward into the sky from the East River before the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge lights went on in pink and lavender as the firework show started.

"Oh holy shit," Dee gasped, eyes wide with wonder as he watched a firework show by the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of his wedding. His face was split in a wide smile, his eyes sparkling as bright as the fireworks before him.

All the fireworks were in wedding colors, along with white.

Ryo hugged onto Dee tightly and Dee managed to tear his eyes away from the display long enough to kiss Ryo.

Gasps and cheers went throughout the guests as everyone got caught up in the firework show. The band went into a few more songs as the couple in the front hugged each other, watching the city sky light up with fireworks for their wedding.

The last song played was "When You Wish Upon A Star" which had not only Dee, but Mother, in tears, knowing it was Dee's very favorite song as a young boy. A song that still held as much magic to grown up Dee as he held the love of his life in his arms, watching the grand finale start off.

JJ, Drake and Barry started to laugh when the song started, but ended up giving each other intrigued looks as they noticed Dee's reaction to the song.

"Now this is interesting," JJ chuckled.

"I will have to find out more about this," Barry stated.

Julie slapped Barry, causing him to quickly kiss his wife before going back to looking at the fireworks show. JJ's attention was already back on the fireworks, appearing to ignore Drake.

Cheers got louder when a banner fell from the side of the bridge, saying, "Ryo & Dee – 3/11/06" as the Brooklyn Bridge went bright in all the wedding colors. Ryo was openly weeping with joy, and with love for his grandparents. If there was ever a proclamation to the city that this was his wedding day to Dee, there it was. He knew what it took his grandparents in permits and planning, getting police and officials involved to close off the bridge for the time, to have a barge with fireworks on the East River before the bridge and to get the lighting to bathe the bridge as it now was in colored lights. Dee was standing behind him, his arms around Ryo and resting his head on Ryo's shoulder.

"My God Ryo," Dee croaked. "This is… beautiful."

"It is," Ryo sighed, turning his head to kiss Dee. "It's us. It's our love." He twisted in Dee's arms, moving them so he was behind Dee, holding Dee tightly, one hand stroking the swell of Dee's abdomen.

"This is amazing!" Carol crowed excitedly. "Oh wow, you two had a fireworks show off the Brooklyn Bridge."

"That is the coolest!" Bikky exclaimed, looking up at his Dads.

Dee ruffled Bikky's hair. "Yes, it is. The coolest and amazing." He glanced back, realizing the orphans surrounded them so they could get a good view without looking over adults. He caught Estelle's eyes and mouthed, "Thank you," to her.

She winked. "You're welcome, grandson." She smiled, resting her head against Franklin's shoulder.

Mother was still dabbing her eyes after the show was over and Dee and Ryo made their way over to the elders. Orphans were jumping up and down in excitement, clapping, from the fireworks, excited it was for their older brother and his husband. Dee and Ryo ruffled heads and bent down to hug little ones as they made their way.

Ryo reached his grandparents first and flung his arms around Estelle, kissing her cheek. "Thank you, Grandma. Oh my God! This was wonderful!"

Estelle giggled, hugging Ryo back. "Well, I figured you'd approve of announcing to the city in that way after the way I heard you wokw everyone up this morning," she teased her grandson.

Akira laughed, patting Ryo on the back. "I agree," she said. "I told you he'd love it."

"I do," Ryo agreed, hugging his grandfather. He went over to Akira and Mother. "You all knew?"

"We knew last night," Mother replied. "They told us at the rehearsal dinner." Mother looked at Estelle. "I didn't know which songs were selected, but now I know why you called asking Dee's favorite songs and if there was any special childhood songs that still was special to him."

Dee came up to Estelle, hugging the MacLean matriarch. "You have no idea hearing that song today, right then, at that moment…." He shook his head as Estelle wiped the tears on his cheek. "Damn, I'm speechless. Just…. aw crap, thank you doesn't seem enough."

"You don't have to say anything, Dee," Estelle laughed, hugging Dee. "Just seeing the looks on your faces was thank you enough. It was our pleasure."

"But Grandma, that had to take a lot with permits and city planning and…," Ryo started.

"And you keep forgetting that we have ins with the brass of the city, including the police department," Franklin stated. "And we're just as proud of you for not taking advantage of that with your career."

Ryo blushed, knowing for the most part, he would forget that he came from a very influential and powerful family, who could pull their weight with city bureaucrats. Thankfully, they were also the type of family who did not throw that weight around for little things, like so many other powerful families he had encountered while on the job. He knew if the MacLeans stepped in to make noise, it would be for something very important. He also knew what it meant to his grandmother to pull what she had for the fireworks show, and for his grandfather to support it. Whatever ties he had started to sever over the years, he found himself wanting to bind with them again. His grandparents were truly very special people. They may have their differences again through the years, but Ryo knew it would never stop them from loving him.

Dee decided not to think too much about what he had just married into. It was too overwhelming for him. That they were able to afford the wedding day they had was enough, along with the wedding night in one of the most prestigious hotels in the city. The Plaza might be the most photographed and known among the 5 star hotels in the city, but the Pierre was the most expensive and posh. While planning for their wedding night and honeymoon, Ryo and Dee found out that the year before the MacLeans acquired the Pierre, planning to make it the flagship hotel in a new chain the MacLeans were currently planning and acquiring more hotels worldwide. It was really nothing to the family to allow the best suite in the hotel for use for their wedding night. The hotel they were to stay in Atlanta had also been recently acquired and undergoing transition to become part of the new, still unannounced hotel chain.

Shortly after, the wedding reception came to an end, with the Brooklyn Bridge still aglow in wedding colors as the guests danced to the final song – "New York, New York".

All the older guests took their leave from the happy couple, most stating they would see them at breakfast the next morning. Mother hugged Dee and Ryo, then allowed the orphans to say their good nights before she lead them off, following Estelle and Franklin out of Bridgewaters and to the waiting limos to take them home. The 22 passenger Escalade stretch limo that had been for use for the children waited to take the orphans, along with Mother back to the orphanage. Estelle and Franklin were to get into their Bentley to go to their own hotel room in the Pierre, deciding to stay the night in the city, rather than drive in from Long Island in the morning. Many of the family who were to attend the breakfast and lived outside the city were staying at the Pierre. The Lanes were also staying at the hotel, while the Aokis went to the Kitano hotel.

Dee and Ryo left Bridgewaters, once again dressed in outer wear and to their surprise found all their guests lined up along the street mall to the waiting hansom cab. Guests threw paper hearts and origami cranes as they walked, and got into the horse drawn carriage. Behind the hansom cab was a line up of stretch limousines and Roll Royces for wedding party and family to get into for their next destination of the night.

Only the older guests and children went home or to hotel rooms for the night. Dee and Ryo, while being the first to leave for the after party were the last to arrive.

Dee and Ryo were pleased to find that Vince and David had made it to the after party. The party was held in a large loft in Soho. It was divided up into three sections, each section decorated differently, but belonging to the same theme. The color was mostly blue, white and silver, using the pastel colors as accents. One section was the dance floor. In another section, there were light late night snacks, such as knishes, mini quinces, pigs in blankets, pizza, bagels with a variety of cream cheese spreads, a sweets table and a popcorn machine. The bar was also in that section, and high tables and chairs set up. The third section were couches and tables for guests to lounge and relax between dancing.

Drake had come up to Ryo and Dee, greeting them when they arrived and asked them what he had asked everyone else since he started to leave the reception to discover JJ had already left by himself.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where JJ went, would you?" he asked the grooms.

Dee frowned. "Yeah, we do. JJ came up to us right after the last song, saying he had a headache and gave his apologies that he won't be here."

Ryo, holding onto Dee's arm nodded. "Yeah. He looked really bad too, so we didn't try to talk him into going. We just told him we hoped he felt better and we'll see him at breakfast tomorrow."

Drake sighed. "He was pissy for most of the last part of the reception and I don't know why."

"Don't you?" Dee remarked cryptically. "And here I was going to ask what you did now."

"Me? Why would you ask that?" Drake asked defensively.

"Because you're the one who seems to put JJ in a bad mood of late, that's why," Ryo answered. "Stop the bullshit, Drake. Okay? Something is going on, and whatever it is, it's not what JJ is expecting it to be."

Dee looked at Ryo in surprise. He did not expect Ryo to confront Drake, especially at that time.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Dee. I'm getting sick of this horseshit already. You ask me, Drake, instead of drinking and partying more, you'd be best to go and see if there's anything you can do to make it right for JJ. If it isn't too late."

They watched as Drake turned pale at Ryo's last statement. "I don't know. Maybe it is," Drake replied defeated. "Look, it's your wedding day. Go off and enjoy yourselves. I'll take care of JJ. And if there's still something to talk about when you get back from your honeymoon, I'll come to you." He looked at Ryo pointedly. "If it's all right with you."

"Of course it is," Ryo said, rolling his eyes. "You should have come to me sooner, you know."

"I know, I know. I kept telling myself you had the wedding to think about and stuff."

"That doesn't mean I would neglect my friends when they need me. You know that too."

"I do know it. It was an excuse. I'm sorry."

"Don't tell it to Ryo. You should be saying that to JJ," Dee stated.

"I know that too. So… we'll see you at breakfast tomorrow. And Ryo, I'll hold you to that when you are back from the Bahamas."

"I'll hold you to it," Ryo replied with a wink. "Now go take care of your man."

Drake smiled weakly, realizing it was no longer a secret with Ryo and Dee. "Yeah. I'll do my best. God, I never wanted to fuck this up like I do everything else. See ya, guys. And again, congratulations. This wedding… wow, dudes."

Ryo and Dee smiled at Drake. "Yeah, that's what I'm still saying," Dee laughed.

"Good luck," Ryo said as Drake started to leave.

The newlyweds watched Drake for a minute more, then went onto mingling with their guests at the after party. They talked, ate more and danced. Before they knew it, their hour was up and they were saying good night to their guests who were still to party until the last one left.

"You were right," Dee sighed happily, snuggled in Ryo's arms as the hansom cab made its way up Sixth Avenue. "Tonight went too fast for all the memories it had."

Ryo nodded, his head against Dee's. "Yeah. I know. It was all so wonderful. Everything. And Grandma and Grandfather… my God. I'm still stunned."

Dee giggled. "I'm still speechless. Last I heard the Bridge is still lit up."

"It will be until dawn, so I heard. I guess it'll be in the papers, and not some small article in the society page."

Dee smiled. "You mean that Dee married Ryo will make page 5?" he asked.

"At least." Ryo grinned and kissed Dee. "Hang on a moment, love."

"Huh?" Dee asked as Ryo pulled away from Dee.

Carefully, Ryo stood up in the carriage and with his arms wide open toward the sky yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'M MARRIED TO DEE!! THE MOST WONDERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD!! WOO-HOO!!"

Dee laughed, holding onto Ryo to make sure he didn't fall. Ryo dropped in the seat next to Dee. "There. I got it out."

Dee laughed more. "I love you so much," Dee intoned, managing to take a deep breath, before kissing Ryo deeply.

The two hardly noticed the snow started to come down again, nor those still out in the streets of New York on a snowy Saturday night. The driver smirked with amusement as they hardly acknowledged horns honking in response to the "Just Married" sign. She took the cab up Sixth Avenue to Central Park South. At Central Park South, the cab went east, along the hotels and luxury buildings on their right and Central Park on their left. She made a left on Madison, while the couple in the back continued to kiss and nuzzle like the newlyweds they were. She went north the three blocks and made a left on 61st Street. The carriage made its way west the one block to Fifth Avenue, going past brownstones and luxury buildings along the partially tree lined street. Another left and down the street a little and she was directed into the loading zone by the doorman who were expecting their arrival.

She had to clear her throat loudly several times before heads moved apart, and the couple looked around them.

"The Pierre Hotel, gentlemen," the driver announced. "Enjoy your visit. And it's been a pleasure being your driver tonight."

Dee chuckled as he sat up more in the seat, helping Ryo. "It's been a pleasure having you as your driver."

"And thank you for allowing me to be part of that glorious wedding reception. I'll remember it for the rest of my life," she said with a smile, watching the two handsome men start to stand.

She was already paid by Barry at the reception, but as Ryo started to depart from the carriage first, he handed her an envelope. "Please, take this as a token of our appreciation for being a part of this special day." He winked at her and once again, jumped down with a flourish, causing the waiting doorman to jump to the side, and Dee to start laughing.

Ryo held up his hands to help Dee down, while another doorman went around the other side to collect their overnight bags.

It was no secret that this was the grandson of the hotel's owners, along with his new husband for their wedding night. The staff on duty that night were instructed to give them the utmost attention and courtesy.

As Dee's feet touched the sidewalk, he was once again pulled in for a kiss. With arms around each other, the couple followed the doormen into the hotel. There was no check in. They were greeted by the manager on duty, was told if there was anything they required to call, and that all amenities were already covered, and to enjoy their stay. They were escorted to the elevator taking them to the top floor and the best suite in the hotel.

The bellhop unlocked the door to their suite as Ryo and Dee kissed again. They broke apart to find the door open and the bellhop already placing their bags on a chair just inside the room.

"Will here be okay, gentlemen?" he asked.

Ryo nodded. "That's fine." He looked at Dee. "Baby, I hope you don't get mad, but if you tried this, you'd have a miscarriage, so…" In one quick swoop, Ryo gathered Dee in his arms. "May I carry you over the threshold?"

Dee flushed, his green eyes glowing. He kissed Ryo's cheek. "I love it when you take charge," was his reply and he rested his head against Ryo's as Ryo entered the room.

The bellhop chuckled delighted. "I'm glad to see tradition still holds true."

Dee winked at the bell hop. "Well, I am the one in white. And pregnant. So." He kissed Ryo again.

"And on that note, I will be leaving you gentlemen to enjoy the rest of your wedding night. Congratulations, Mr. & Mr. Laytner-MacLean."

"Thank you," Ryo replied. He continued to kiss Dee as the door closed behind the doorman. He walked across the lavishly decorated room to the couch near windows overlooking Central Park below. Gently he settled Dee on the couch, and looked around. The room was ready for them, he noticed. Only one light was on dim by a doorway leading to the bedroom. Candles were lit in the living room. There were calla lilies and blue iris in vases on tables. Also on a table near the couch was a bucket with sparkling cider chilled in ice, and crystal champagne glasses. Next to the bucket were chocolate covered strawberries. Ryo smiled.

"Grandma told me not to worry about tips," he explained to Dee as he removed his coat and scarf. "She said that anyone who caters to us during our stay will get bonuses, which will be more sizable than tips." As he spoke, he watched Dee take his coat and scarf off. He took the items from Dee and went to hang them up, along with his.

"Ah… gotcha." Dee looked around the room as he unbuttoned his jacket. "Damn, I could get used to this pretty fast," he remarked. "This is even nicer than the Plaza."

"It's a finer hotel than the Plaza," Ryo replied, going over to the ice bucket. "The Plaza is just better known among the masses."

"And this belongs to your grandparents?" Dee asked.

"Yes. So Grandma explained to me. They bought it last year, and a few months ago bought out the Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. They're in negotiations to buy another hotel, then I believe they'll start remodeling and marketing the campaign for a new hotel chain."

"And buy more over the years, I'm sure," Dee replied, watching Ryo take the bottle out and dry it with a nearby towel.

"Yup. It's another family holding, so I'm told. I guess that would mean that we'll have at least a few shares in the venture, since we've been told repeatedly that we're family, and how I'm the current MacLean heir, and that Chibi there is the future heir."

Ryo pulled the top off with a pop, and then looked at the bottle. With a snort, he shook his head. "Only my family. Fine imported sparking grape juice from France."

Dee laughed. "One thing I always wonder about when I hear them talk of heirs. What do they mean? I mean, like, isn't all the kids heirs to their family fortune? Dani and Stefen will get whatever Elena has and so on?"

"Something like. There's the MacLeans as a family. And then the direct central line. In our branch of the family, the one that made money and a name for themselves, my dad's line is the central line. Grandfather is the oldest child of the oldest child. My dad was born before Elena. So the major portion of the MacLean fortune went to Dad. Apparently now that I'm accepted into the family with open arms again, instead of it going to Elena, it'll go to me, as the oldest, and only child my dad had. Chibi, being my first born child of blood, will be my heir. That makes me and Chibi the MacLean heirs. And you, my wonderful husband, are the heir apparent. Meaning, you're included in everything I get. Just as Grandma was when my great grandparents passed on and Grandfather got everything. Mostly it means that one day down the road, we'll be the heads of the MacLean family, making most of the decisions that affect the family, yadda yadda yadda. Supposedly we won't have to worry about the businesses. There's people to do that and report to us. We'll merely make decisions based on what we're advised. And make sure all the shares go out as they should to other family members. Again, there will be people doing all the brainwork for that."

"Oh…" Dee sat on the couch, looking stunned.

"And of course, since Bikky is our son, while he can't be direct heir since he's adopted, he's still our son. So he'll probably see the next biggest inheritance after Chibi. Which will come from us, unless Grandma or Grandfather survive both of us, then it will be from them."

"Gotcha. But, how about let's leave that talk about who survives who for another day besides our wedding day?" Dee asked.

"Of course," Ryo replied. "You asked, I answered. And now…." Ryo poured the grape juice into the glasses and went to sit down next to Dee. He handed one glass to Dee. "Now a private toast, a little snack and then let's check out the master sleeping chamber, shall we?"

"Now that sounds like a plan," Dee said. He accepted the glass with a kiss. "To forever and a day." He intertwined his arm with Ryo's as they sipped the grape juice.

After another kiss, Ryo smiled at Dee. "To being lucky enough to marry our soulmate."

"Agreed," Dee said, taking another sip.

"Here, get comfortable," Ryo said, as he started to loosen Dee's tie. "I'm surprised that stayed even through the after party," he said with a giggle.

"I'm so ready to lose it now. Please."

"Of course." Ryo set their glasses on the table as he continued to take Dee's tie off.


	28. Reality Intrusion

Ryo woke up to the 7 am wake up call that was part of the details previously sent to the hotel before their arrival the night

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 28 – Reality Intrusion

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

A/N: Last chapter for this marathon TU Wedding Weekend. The rest of "The Unexpected II" will be posted throughout August. Happy reading!

# # # # # # # #

Ryo woke up to the 7 am wake up call that was part of the details previously sent to the hotel before their arrival the night before. He looked around the richly decorated room, feeling a warm weight against his body. Smiling, he ran his fingers softly through Dee's sleep tangled hair, as alertness slowly came to Ryo. His eyes settled on his left hand, and the white gold and diamond band. Sighing, he pressed his cheek against Dee's, his other hand fumbling for Dee's hand, which was draped across Ryo's stomach. Dee snuggled closer to Ryo. Ryo lifted the hand from under the sheet and his smile widened upon seeing the matching band on the sleeping man's hand. He kissed the hand he held.

For a brief moment between hanging up the phone and giving his attention to Dee, Ryo felt as if the day before was a dream. He sighed contently, realizing the wedding the day before was no dream, and it was the start of their first full day as a married couple.

Dee sighed heavily and started to move. Lightly Ryo kissed Dee's mouth. "Sleep a bit more, sweetheart," he said.

"Mm… still tired," Dee mumbled.

"I know. You have another hour."

"Good." Still half asleep, Dee sought out Ryo's mouth. Ryo gladly met the searching lips halfway and they kissed briefly. Dee closed his eyes and seemed to fall back to sleep.

Ryo chuckled softly. He felt tired too, but he knew if he allowed himself to go back to sleep, chances were both men would be very late to the breakfast brunch. So Ryo gently made his way out of the bed, and went into the bathroom to shower.

An hour later, just before Ryo was about to wake Dee to get ready to leave, he heard the knock on the door to their suite. He was already dressed for the day, and had everything, except for what Dee would need to get dressed, packed and ready to load into the limo when it came to pick them up. With a smile he got up from the couch he sat in, looking out at the city. The snow had stopped as they slept and it was promising to be a sunny day. From what Ryo could make out from the window, most of the snow was gone, but the streets and sidewalks was still wet. It painted an interesting picture of Central Park, which was across the street with small patches of white here and there among all the brown of the bare trees.

He went up to the door and opened it marginally.

"Room service," he heard come through the small opening.

Ryo closed the door to undo the chain and opened it again. "Come in, please," he cheerfully greeted the woman pushing the cart.

"Congratulations on your wedding, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," the woman replied as she wheeled the cart to the center of the living room.

Ryo's smile got wider. "Keep calling me that, and despite what my grandparents told me, there will be an additional Ben Franklin or two for you. 'Cause I love hearing that."

The woman laughed breezily. "Where do you want this set up, Mr. Laytner-MacLean? Would the table by the window be good enough, Mr. Laytner-MacLean."

Ryo laughed. "Yes, by the window would be just perfect," he agreed.

A sleepy looking Dee entered the living room, in the hotel robe and wearing a striped pair of pajama bottoms that was purchased just for moments like that. "Hey, are you flirting with my husband there?" he teased the young woman with a wink. "Not that I would blame you for trying, but he's all mine."

The woman laughed again. "Of course not, Mr. Laytner-MacLean. I would never come between newlyweds on their honeymoon."

"I think she's more interested in Ben, than me," Ryo remarked, going over to Dee and putting his arms around the other man's waist.

"We're not on our honeymoon yet," Dee replied to the woman, hugging Ryo back. "But we will be later today." He bent his head slightly to kiss Ryo. "Good morning, husband of mine."

"Good morning to you too," Ryo greeted, kissing Dee again. He rubbed the bump beneath the plush robe. "And you too, Chibi." Ryo noticed the table was set and he pulled away from Dee to take out his wallet.

"Aw, so cute. When is the baby due?" the woman asked, then noticed Ryo going through his wallet. "Oh no, Mr. Laytner-MacLean. I was only joking about the tip. Your grandparents were quite generous."

"Enough to put anyone in a great mood this early in the morning, I'm sure," Dee laughed.

"You're in a good mood," she pointed out.

"I woke up to realize that yesterday wasn't a dream and I was married to the love of my life. Who needs money?"

Ryo smiled at Dee, while the woman laughed. "I wish you a lifetime of happiness," she said, preparing to leave. "And the joy of your little one."

"Thank you," Dee said, watching Ryo leave his side to walk over to the woman. "Oh and the baby is due in July."

"Now, I wasn't joking about Ben. So just take the money and I won't put up a fuss. It'll be our little secret."

"I couldn't."

"You could. Because I insist. Didn't my grandparents leave some nonsense warning about not upsetting us?"

"Something like that."

"So I'll be upset if you don't. So take it." Ryo shoved a couple of the bills his grandmother had slipped to him the night before. :"Buy something for yourself that you normally wouldn't spend the money on." He winked at her.

"If you insist. I mustn't upset one of the happy grooms. Thank you so much, Mr. Laytner-MacLean. And happy honeymooning." She shoved the money in a pocket and left the room as breezily as she entered it.

"Sweet girl," Dee commented, then looked at the set up on the table. "Breakfast? Aren't we supposed to have a big breakfast in a couple of hours?" he asked.

"This is coffee for me, tea for you, and some bagels and toast. Just so you don't have an empty stomach before we get to the brunch. Remember, we're attempting to avoid any form of nausea while getting to Atlanta," Ryo replied, taking Dee's hand and leading him to the table. "Now sit down. We have some time."

Dee's eyes went to the luggage already waiting near the door. "I guess so. Do I have clothes to wear? Or do I go through today in this?" he asked with a smirk.

"For that, I should make you go through the day in your jammies. But no. Why do you think I asked you last night what did you plan to wear today? It's all set out and waiting for you when you come out of the shower."

Dee pouted as Ryo poured some tea into a fine bone china cup, and then some coffee into the second cup. "And here I was expecting some first morning married sex to start off the day."

Ryo set Dee's tea down before him. "Dee, if we did, I get a feeling we'll never make the brunch on time."

"Well…."

"We'll be in Atlanta early evening. And I don't know about you, but I'm planning on spending the rest of the evening in our hotel room. Hopefully with you. And hopefully having some honeymoon fun."

Dee's eyes met Ryo's. "Well then, if you put it that way, I guess it'll be worth the wait. I know last night definitely was."

"Oh last night was so worth the wait," Ryo agreed, pulling the linen open of the basket on the table and revealing a few bagels and toast within. "Now, we eat and relax a little before you go shower and get dressed. The day is going to be a bit hectic until we get settled in the hotel tonight. So let's enjoy some quiet time right now."

Dee reached across the table to take Ryo's left hand in his. "I'd love that," he replied, then kissed the hand. "I swear I still feel like I'm walking in a dream."

"From what I heard from others who did this before us, that will take at least a few days before it wears off," Ryo said.

"I'm not complaining," Dee replied. He reached into the basket to pick out a piece of toast to put on the matching plate to the cups.

"Neither am I."

The two men started on their first breakfast as a married couple, pausing to caress the other, share kisses and gaze out of the hotel room window and at the park, and the city skyline beyond.

# # #

Two hours later, the newlyweds got out of the Bentley in front of the entrance to the building on 14th Street and Fifth Avenue, where the wedding brunch was to be held. Both men realized they wished they could have gotten a few more hours sleep, or a longer time to just lounge around the hotel. They looked tired, but still radiant. The slight exhaustion did not take away from the glow of recently being married. They were glad it would be a relatively shorter day. Once they left from the brunch, they would be on their way to LaGuardia airport for the flight to Atlanta for the first night of their honeymoon. Having first class seats, they both were looking forward to relaxing and even napping during the flight, assuming Dee did not get too sick. Which was the reason for them breaking up the journey to the Bahamas into three segments. It was a three hour flight to Atlanta. Instead of waiting for a connecting flight, they were to leave the airport and go to the hotel in downtown Atlanta for the night. The next day in the late morning, they had a two hour flight to Miami and once again stay the night. The next day was an early morning flight from Miami to Nassau, where they would stay for seven days at an exclusive resort. The trip back to New York would have the same stops.

Estelle had gotten involved in helping them plan their honeymoon. Franklin was on the board of directors of the airline the they were to use for the trip, and the MacLean family was a major shareholder. Their hotel in Atlanta was a recently acquired hotel to be part of the new luxury hotel chain still in development. The hotel in Miami was a 5-star hotel on the beach. Limos were ordered for transportation between airports and hotels. At their final destination, the resort provided all transportation as part of their all-inclusive package.

Ryo was pleased with the finalized plans for their honeymoon. Dee was astounded. They were to spend almost two weeks being pampered in luxury. Both men were looking forward to the welcome break.

Hand in hand, they entered the building, to take the elevator up to the top floor, and join the others who were waiting for the newlyweds to arrive.

Everyone was already there when they arrived at the penthouse used for various events. The décor seemed plain compared to the set up from the night before. There was a long table at the front, facing the other tables for Ryo, Dee and family. At each end was another long table at a ninety degree angle for the wedding party. The three tables formed an open square. The tables were set up with dark blue linen and light blue runners. The tableware was pastel china and crystal. The guest tables were set up in the same color scheme. Small floral arrangements in crystal vases adorned the tables. Balloons with their names were part of the decoration, along with fringe lighting from the ceiling. That was all the decoration. The penthouse was very well appointed in décor, with wide, tall arched windows, giving another view of the city. Like the reception, the meal was a buffet. They had settled on an international breakfast menu, giving their guests a wide selection to choose from. They also had a dessert bar. It was very low key comparing to the extravagance of the day before. Dee and Ryo had opted for easy listening music to be played in the background.

The happy couple arrived unannounced, but word spread fast and they were escorted to their table to applause and cheers. The number of guests was smaller than the reception and ceremony guest lists. It was for close family and good friends of the couple, along with those who had traveled a distance to attend the wedding.

Dee and Ryo noticed the older people looked well rested, and as if they were already far into their day. The younger generations looked tired and worn out, some in various degrees of a hangover. The after party, they discovered, still had a good number of guests who stayed until 4 am when the party finally ended.

At their table, Bikky was seated next to Ryo, and Carol next to Dee. Dee's family sat on his side, starting with Mother next to Carol, and Ryo's family starting with Elena next to Bikky.

While they ate, they spoke mostly to Bikky, knowing they were leaving their son behind during the honeymoon. Bikky let them know he was fine with his Japanese great-grandmother staying with him at the apartment. Mother assured them that she had arranged for Bikky and Akira to come to the orphanage for dinner several times. Carol's aunt, Elina, was expecting them for dinner at least once during the time. Elena and Rick had appointments in the city and intended to look in on him and his great-grandmother, and even Estelle had mentioned also checking in on the boy. Vince reminded them that Bikky had his youth group meetings and a dance while they were gone, and assured them that he, too, would also keep an extra eye on Bikky while he was attending the teen programs for children of Carriers. Of course, all the adults who had promised to make sure Bikky was okay during their honeymoon assured the boy that Carol was always welcome to be with him anytime.

At the end of the meal, they mingled with guests for a while, once again receiving well wishes, and in the case of married friends, advice and tips for the honeymoon. At one point, Vince pulled them aside for travel advice, making sure Dee had the medications he approved in case he needed them, and they had the number of a trusted MOP located on the island if there was a need.

"I don't mean to scare you and say something will happen if you travel," Vince said, watching Dee's eyes get wide.

Ryo patted Dee's arm. "Dee, relax. It's a just in case, because Vince won't be close by. That's all. I feel better having a number we won't use."

"I stress more what I've been stressing all this time. Call if you are concerned about anything. You're welcome to call me first, if you prefer. You know I'm always there for my patients 27/7, well, except for last night," he added with a chuckle. "But thankfully no one contacted any of my associates I referred them to in case. Anyway, if you feel silly calling someone you don't know, unless you are certain you'll need to see him, then call me. The telephone is an amazing concept, wouldn't you say?"

Dee laughed. "You're right. I'm just nervous about traveling and all, but that's not stopping me from going. I really love the idea of being pampered in the Bahamas."

"You picked a great place," Vince stated. "I've heard many good things about their Carrier programs. Make sure you take advantage of them since it's all included in the price. Get in as many massages and spa treatments, and even some classes while you have the chance. I would have loved to go to someplace like that myself when I was Carrying Jason and Hannah." He turned to Ryo. "And you, make sure you also take advantage of what's available for you. Believe me, you'll both be for the better when you return."

"I intend to. I noticed they have a total spa day for Carrier and partner. We're doing that, even if I have to drag Dee to it."

Dee held up his hands. "Don't worry. As long as those bozos aren't around to make smartass comments," he indicated the others they worked with in CI, "then I'm looking forward to it."

"Good. Well, once again, congratulations on your marriage," Vince said.

"It was a very beautiful day," David added. "I doubt I'll see a wedding like that in a very long time, if ever. Congratulations."

Ryo smiled. "Thanks. Yeah, we're more than just pleased at how it all turned out."

"Oh oh, here comes the mamas with your son," David said, chuckling.

Dee glanced at his watch. "I think that means it's almost time to start heading out of here."

"Enjoy!" Vince remarked, and taking David's hand, wandered over to mingle with some of their friends.

"Dee, Ryo," Mother called out, as she approached the couple with Bikky, Estelle and Elena in tow. "If you want to say anything more to any of your friends before you leave, do it now. It's almost time for everyone to start lining up to see you off." She patted Dee's cheek. "Oh my baby boy is married now, and going off on his honeymoon."

Dee hugged her. "Yeah, and not to a motel in New Jersey like we first thought would be our honeymoon," he laughed. "You behave yourself, Mother, while we're gone. And take care of Bikky for us."

Mother hugged Dee back. "Of course I'll behave. I don't know where you got that habit of not behaving from, but it wasn't from me." She grinned up at him as Ryo laughed. "Bikky will be fine, Dee. He has Akira with him and the rest of us will make sure they stay out of trouble."

Ryo laughed. "Now that sounds like Obasan. Yes, please make sure they stay out of trouble. Hopefully she learned her lesson about trying to skateboard with Tsubasa's son." He hugged Mother. "And call us if needed. Don't worry about breaking up a honeymoon if we're really needed home with family. Got it?"

"We'll all be fine. And so will the orphanage. Barry offered his services if there are any emergency repairs to be made while you two are gone. So just enjoy yourselves."

"I intend to, Mother." Dee smiled down at Bikky who stood next to Mother. "Well, kiddo. I guess you're on your own without your dads for a bit. Don't make all the adults crazy."

"That should be crazier than they already are," Ryo said with a wink as Obasan joined them.

Estelle hugged Ryo. "I'm still so excited at how wonderful everything turned out. A true sign of blessing of this marriage. You boys take care of each other, and that little baby of yours, and we'll all make sure Bikky is okay. When you're back from honeymoon, we all should get together for dinner. Maybe a weekend at our place next month too?"

Ryo kissed his grandmother's cheek. "Dinner when we're back sounds great." He looked over at Dee, who nodded slightly before getting hugged by Elena. "And a weekend at the MacLean Estate next month sounds good too. We'll let you know when we have a free weekend and go from there."

"Perfect," Estelle said, then went over to hug Dee as Ryo hugged Akira.

"Are you sure you're okay with all this sightseeing around the city?" Ryo asked, concerned.

"I am very sure. I have a reason to stay here for a while. A very happy reason. I'm getting to know my great-grandson." She smiled at Bikky. "And as of today, the happy memories outweigh the unpleasant ones. Your wedding did that, Ryo. You and Dei have helped me overcome. Thank you."

"Thank you for joining us, and for your love and support, of course," Ryo said to her, kissing her forehead.

"I intend to be back here when the little one is due," she said to him.

Ryo looked surprised. "Really? Obasan, that's great. I'd so love to have you here to meet your new great-grandchild when he's born."

Dee cleared his throat as Elena laughed. "Or she," Dee added with a wink.

"We'll talk more as your scheduled c-section date is finalized. And if you'll have me, I would love to stay and help out for a couple of weeks after you come home from the hospital, Dei."

"We'll definitely talk more when we have more firm detail, Obasan," Dee replied with a fond smile.

"Almost time to scat," Elena stated. "Better get the rest of your so longs out."

"Will do," Ryo laughed, hugging Dee. "Let's go."

They continued to make their rounds, with Bikky and Carol beside them until they found themselves back with their families while the guests gathered by the large double French doors leading out of the penthouse.

As they left, once again, they were showered on with confetti and streamers, and since they were inside, some guests also tossed rice.

Dee shook his head, once they were in the Bentley and snorted when rice was among the confetti that fluttered down. "As if we needed help in being fertile," he remarked, then laughed, Ryo joining him.

"Come here, you," Ryo said, pulling them back to relax against the plush interior of the car. "We have some time until we're at the airport and I intend to make some good use of the time." He started to kiss Dee as the car pulled away and headed east through the streets of Manhattan for the FDR Drive. The planned route was to take the Queens-Midtown Tunnel from E. 34th Street into Queens and onto the expressway for the short ride to the airport.

Dee happily returned the kisses, neither man paying attention to the city going past them outside the car's windows.

# # #

Settled in their seats in first class, Dee was slightly grumpy but trying hard not to show it. His alternative was to just get upset over the abrupt way the airline attendant for first class had treated them. Ryo ended up having to heft their carry on bags into the overhead compartment, except for the one bag he intended to keep with them. He had been assured by his family that flying first class would mean specialized attention and asking for things to make the flight more comfortable for Dee. Ryo was not one to take chances. Should Dee need water or some ginger ale while they were in ascent, he knew he could not ask anyone, since they were all to remain seated until the plane reached cruising altitude. So he had packed a bag with some items in case Dee needed, and the attendants were unable to get it for them.

The flight attendant had been downright rude to the two of them, and it did not escape Ryo's eyes that it all started after her gaze fixed on Dee's bump. As he sat down next to Dee in his oversized leather seat, he took Dee's hand and squeezed it.

The attendant passed them from helping settle a business man in a suit who was also in first class. Ryo noted that at least he had to put up his own bags too.

She hardly spared them a glance and what they made of it, there was disgust on her face.

"Southern belle with attitude," Dee muttered, settling back to get comfortable. "Fuck her."

Ryo squeezed Dee's hand, and thought to hand Dee a pillow, only to realize there were no pillows out. The attendant was currently taking out a pillow and blanket for yet another passenger in first class, asking if woman was comfortable. He started to raise her hand to get the attendant's attention, then decided against it. "Nevermind," he sighed. Releasing Dee's hand, he stood up to reach into a compartment to get them pillows and blankets.

"Excuse sir, but what are you doing?" the attendant asked him in her southern accent.

"We don't have any pillows or blankets. And since you seemed… occupied, I thought I'd save you the trouble."

"No one but flight crew are allowed to open this particular compartment. Please sit down and I'll get them for you."

"Thank you." Ryo sat down in his seat and gave Dee an encouraging smile. Dee still looked dubious.

Two pillows and two blankets were all but tossed at them as the blankets landed on Ryo's lap. "There you go, sir. Enjoy," The attendant turned her back on them, going over to the other man. "Are you settling in for the flight, Mr. Daniels?" she asked.

Ryo turned his attention from the rest of the conversation as he gnashed his teeth. "Just let her keep it up," he told Dee low. "'Cause if she pisses me off enough, I swear I'll end up making a scene."

That drew a smile from Dee's otherwise tense look and he chuckled a little. Leaning over to lightly kiss Ryo, he said, "Just don't get yourself arrested. That won't be so much fun on our honeymoon."

Ryo held his hands up defensively. "I promise." At Dee's look, he added, "I swear. I'll go another route than punching her smug look inside out."

Dee grinned and kissed Ryo again. "Easy Tiger. We can handle being ignored a little. It's no more worse than some of your great aunts and their talking last night."

"As long as she keeps it to just this."

"Good. Now, how about you looking through the programming and pick a movie for us to watch in-flight," Dee said, handing Ryo a laminated card. "I like this set up," he said, indicating what appeared to be a laptop bolted to the bulkhead before them. They had the first seats on the aft side in first class, giving them a little extra room than the two rows behind them.

Ryo was impressed with the set up. Smaller airlines appeared to do more in comfort services than many of the major airlines. Greenway Airlines, which was the airline they were using, was right on top with the latest in comfort design, and technology to make a flight as pleasant as possible. Even the business class seats had more space than a typical major airline seat, and a few amenities usually found just in first class. Which raised the bar for what was offered in first class. He watched Dee stretch out his long legs as he covered himself with the blanket.

"Looks like you're ready for a nap," Ryo observed with a smile.

"Yeah. I figured to snooze a little during take off and ascent. That might even minimaze whatever chances of getting sick. Besides…" he yawned. "I'm a bit tired and I have no intention of just sleeping in our suite tonight." He winked roguishly at Ryo.

"That's a great idea, Mr. Laytner-MacLean, because I have plans for you tonight."

"Oh? Gonna share?"

"Nope. It's a surprise. But I think you'll like it."

"If it's what I think it is, I'm sure I'll love it."

The business class passengers started to board the plane while they talked. Dee was settling down further, about to put his seat into lounge position when a pregnant woman entered the plane. The first class attendant all but dropped what she was doing for the other woman in first class and rushed over to the pregnant woman.

"Here, let me help you to your seat," she said, taking the carry-on from the woman.

Both Dee and Ryo's heads turned to watch the attendant and the woman as she was lead to her seat in the 12th row. Ryo was by then, leaning over the side of his seat and watching, with a scowl on his face. "The nerve of that bitch," he muttered. He felt Dee's hand rest on his shoulder as Dee tried to also watch all the fussing and hemming and hawing going on in the 12th row.

Giving up, Dee leaned back in his seat with a heavy sigh. He realized the fantasy of their beautiful wedding was wearing off as reality started to set in. Carriers were still not welcome as far as some people were concerned. He was reminded of that the night before as he overheard comments here and there through the evening from some of Ryo's relatives. The day before, he was feeling too good to let it fully get to him. He would frown for a moment, then shrug it off and go about being one of the happy grooms in the spotlight on his wedding day. He was able to let it roll off the day before. He discovered it was not so easy at that moment.

"Wait a damn minute!" Ryo snapped as the attendant rushed past them to get the woman something to drink.

"Shouldn't one of the business class attendants be doing that?" Dee asked. "And taking it from the business class galley?"

"Damn right they should." He cleared his throat loudly. The man across the aisle from them, and the woman behind him watched carefully, wondering if there would be trouble. "Excuse me, Ma'am, but while you're at it, can you get my husband a ginger ale, just in case during flight. Please?" He asked politely, putting all his charm into the simple request.

"I'm sorry," the attendant remarked, brushing past him. "The galley is now closed until we're at cruising altitude."

"You could have taken it out with that water, since you were still in there when I asked," Ryo snapped, realizing he was speaking to air, as the attendant was already with the woman.

Other passengers glanced at Ryo warily as they passed on the way to their seats, noticing the extremely pissed off look on the otherwise very handsome man.

Dee sighed again, and fussing with his blanket looked out the window at the bustling workers loading luggage and meals onto the flights, and the plane that was being towed away from the terminal.

Ryo glanced at Dee, his frown getting deeper. "Fuck this shit," he remarked, taking out his cell phone. He found the airline's main number in his contacts list and called it.

"Thank you for your interest in Greenway Airlines. How may I direct your call?" a pleasant female voice answered on the second ring.

"I'd like to lodge a complaint. Listen, I'm on flight 715 from New York City to Atlanta at this moment, in first class."

"May I ask the nature of your complaint, sir?"

"As I said, we're flying first class and your flight attendant assigned to us is being VERY BIASED TO ME AND MY HUSBAND," he said, his voice raising so all could hear him.

Dee sat up in his seat, snapping the seat into the upright position. "Oh no," he muttered. He rubbed Ryo's arm soothingly. "Easy, baby," he cajoled. "You're getting a vein on your forehead."

Ryo glared up at the attendant as she returned and started to prepare the cabin for take off. The last of the passengers had just come on the plane.

"May I ask what do you mean by biased. I might ask you to hold while I get a supervisor in the complaint department," the woman on the phone said.

"What I mean by biased is, my husband is pregnant, and this attendant didn't even show us to our seat. She hardly even greeted us once she noticed he was a Carrier. You know, false planted smile just faded at that moment." He heard Dee snicker at his comment about the false smile. "However, she's doing everything to help a woman in business class, while we're in first class. How is that right?"

The attendant turned to look directly at Ryo and sniffed with her nose turned up. "Your husband is a man. I thought you men were stronger than us woman." The sarcasm dripped with her statement.

"I'm connecting you to a supervisor, sir," the female said and Ryo realized he was on hold.

"Wait, wait wait," he demanded of the attendant. He held out the phone. "Say that to the supervisor of your complaint department. I dare you." Stormy dark eyes met the attendant's.

Passengers were murmuring, but it was background noise to Ryo.

"I don't have to do a thing you tell me to, sir," the attendant snapped back, defensively. "If you don't like the way I'm treating you, then you and your _husband_ can just fly to Atlanta on another flight."

"Joel Abramson, Complaint Supervisor speaking. Sir, I understand you feel you are being discriminated against?"

"You should have heard what she just said right now," Ryo snapped into the phone, glaring at her. His look threw daggers at the petite blond woman. "Apparently if we don't like how we're being treated, we can fly elsewhere. Is that how you conduct business?" he asked the Joel.

"No sir. If you can give me the details of your flight and the attendant's name, we will launch an investigation into your complaint."

"Investigation?!" Ryo practically yelled, jumping to his feet.

Dee jumped in his seat from the suddenness of Ryo's movement and the fury in his voice. "Ryo, sit down and take a deep breath," he said, taking Ryo's free hand and tugging to him to sit down.

"Listen here, there's nothing to investigate. I'll make her repeat everything she has said to us if it's the last thing I do. You have a complaint, and I'm sure if she opens her mouth again, she'll incriminate herself further." He threw a challenging look at the other passengers in first class, including the couple sitting two rows behind them, who boarded before they did. "And I have witnesses. Don't tell me about investigations." He shoved the phone in the attendant's face. "Here, sweetheart. Tell him that you have a problem with pregnant Carriers. You probably also have a problem with gays too, huh. Tell him. That should be sufficient for his investigation."

Dee tried tugging Ryo's arm, certain they had the attention of everyone on the plane by now, and glad it was not a full flight. "Ryo, easy. They have protocol to follow. Just as we do. You give them your statement, they 'investigate' and she gets her hand slapped for being bad. What use is it? Let's just let them get this flight going, and get to Atlanta. Please?"

Ryo glanced down at Dee, giving Dee an apology with his eyes. "Sorry, Dee, but when I decided to be open about us, I swore I'd never let anyone treat us less than equals to the so-called 'normal' people."

"Sir, can you give me your name, flight number and the attendant's name please?"

At that moment the flight captain stepped out from the cockpit. "Is there a problem here?" he asked.

"There's about to be a major one, sir," Ryo stated. "Here, talk to the supervisor. NOW!"

The attendant took the phone from Ryo, glaring at him. "Hello? Oh hello Joel. Listen darlin', I figured the lady needed more help than the man, even if the gentlemen are in first class. That's all that happened. Until he started to rant like a lunatic. I swear, I'm one step away from calling the police in."

Dee's eyes went up to her and he snorted, then laughed. "Oh good one."

Ryo nudged Dee to keep from blurting out what he hoped would be his trump card, should he need it for the surprise. "Wow, you're not only a bigot," he said to the attendant, "but you're an idiot."

Dee found himself trying to keep from laughing. Sometimes when Ryo was furious, he was scary, as he was a few moments ago. Other times, he was pretty funny. At least Dee thought so. He wasn't too sure about the poor person who Ryo directed his fury on. He put aside the blanket and pillow and waved to get the Captain's attention. "Look sir, I'm not saying that she shouldn't have helped that woman out. I think that was very kind of her, since business class did not notice her yet. However, when my husband asked for a few simple things, she ignored us." He pointed to the man and woman with blankets and pillows. "She gave them blanket and pillows without asking. Did she offer us any? No. My husband figured not to bother her, and went to get them himself for us. She snapped at him for getting them, making it seem as if he was planning to take your supply and run with it. Then she had the nerve to just toss it at us. Where is this polite? Is this in your training manual on how to treat passengers?"

"Do you really expect to make any business treating passengers that way?" Ryo added.

Dee managed to move until he was standing between Ryo, and the two members of the flight crew. He took the phone from the attendant. "I hope you were listening to all this and getting it down for my husband's complaint," he said to Joel.

"Gentlemen, please. You can hang up. Tell Joel I'll send in an incident report with all details. I'm sure we can come to a solution for the time being." The Captain glared at the attendant. "We're very sorry about this, sirs. She will stay with our first class passengers only for duration of this flight, and then recommended back for further training, and no more first class. Meanwhile she will treat you both with the courtesy our airline is known for."

Both Ryo and Dee seemed to settle down as he spoke. Ryo had his hand resting on Dee's arm after he took the phone from the dark haired man and said his goodbyes to the supervisor on the phone. He still intended to follow up when they were in Atlanta, because she seemed too familiar with the supervisor to make Ryo believe there would be any disciplinary action taken. At least what the flight captain offered would go further in that direction.

"To show our deepest apologies, please stop by the desk on the way off our flight to pick up your free passes for two round trip tickets anywhere our airline flies."

Ryo crossed his arms, glaring at the attendant as the captain spoke. He saw her eyes flash.

"No way!" she protested. "Not with that freak!" She pointed at Dee.

Ryo started to push Dee out of the way, once again furious. "Let me go, Dee," he demanded when Dee did not give up his ground.

"No way. You are not going to hit a woman, no matter how insulting she is. She's an idiot, Ryo. Let it go," Dee insisted, but his voice stung with the hurt he felt over her accusation.

"Dee, let go of me, dammit!" Ryo demanded.

Holding Ryo firmly, Dee glared at the captain. "We want another flight attendant. And by God, we'll manage to hold up this flight until you do," he insisted. "As paying first class passengers, I demand it!"

Ryo opened his cell again. "Screw this," he snapped. "I'm calling a friend of mine on the Times." His eyes settled first on the attendant, then the flight captain. "They'll 'love' this."

The captain had the attendant standing behind him, in case Ryo decided to attack again and break past Dee. At that point, from the look on Dee's face, he was not so sure if both men would have a go at her.

Ryo gave the attendant a look which said he dared her to say something else along the same lines while he was on the phone.

As Dee noticed the Captain was making no move to either replace the attendant or to attempt to further soothe them, he looked at Ryo. "I think your grandmother would 'love' this too, don't you?" he asked.

"Oh yes," Ryo agreed. He tossed another glare at the flight crew. "Estelle MacLean will personally make sure that no one she knows flies this airline again. Of course, after this I'm calling CNN. I believe both the Times and CNN have an interest in you, Dee, and would jump hoops over stories of discrimination against you."

Dee nodded in agreement, remembering that the New York Times and CNN were in attendance of the press conference he gave the month before. He had a thoughtful look on his face as his attention went back to the attendant. "You know, I remember your grandmother telling me that the MacLeans are the biggest stock holders for this airline," he mused to Ryo, his eyes still fixed on the woman, who shifted uncomfortably under his stare. "In fact, they may all but own it. Imagine if they pulled all their shares what would happen to this airline. It might even fold."

Ryo tried not to show the shock on his face from Dee's surprising tactic. As he noticed the flight captain suddenly look pale, he knew it was a good one. One they should further pursue. Along with calling in the news, he decided. "Hello? Hey Chuckie, listen I have a story for you. It's about Dee and a biased airline attendant. She has some issues about Dee being a Carrier and all, you know. Oh, her name is Elizabeth, badge number is 10745." He heard her gasp, realizing that he had managed to catch the number. The Captain further paled, still wondering if the agitated brown hair man was really one of the chief stockholders' grandson.

Ryo chuckled at the stunned looks. "Oh, did you know that we're detectives for NYPD too?" He pointed to Dee. "This is Detective Dee Laytner-MacLean. Last month he gave that press conference on the Carrier Killer and hate crimes against Carriers. Believe me when I say he has the press on his side, and they would all be extremely interested in reporting this little incident in tomorrow's papers."

Dee had his cell phone out and snapped a photo with it. "Smile, honey. 'Cause you could be a front page star tomorrow."

Elizabeth swayed and the Captain grabbed her roughly by her arm. "Please step off the plane, Beth. I'll meet you outside as soon as I announce a delay in our take off." He glared at her. "So we can handle this situation with satisfactory results."

"And of course you can use my grandparents' names to get any additional information you need," Ryo spoke into the phone. "Why I bet you'll have her cell number before the presses roll."

"Mr. MacLean… both… Please," the Captain tried to reason. "I'm sure we can settle this peacefully."

"Mr. Laytner-MacLean, to you, sir," Dee remarked. "Both."

"Dad, seriously. Calm down," came Bikky's voice through the phone, only heard by Ryo.

Dee took a step back, suddenly looking a little pale. "I think I'm starting to feel sick. I knew I shouldn't have let myself get upset over this…"

"Please gentlemen," the Captain said. "Let me announce that we're going to be delayed a while so we can get a replacement. Beth will not be flying with this flight. And please accept my sincerest apologies. And the free passes."

"Actually Captain," Ryo said, putting the phone down. "A new attendant would be more than compensation enough. But thank you."

"Please accept them for the inconvenience anyway. The cost will come out of Beth's pay, of course. Even if it's her last paycheck with this company. Now if you will excuse me."

Ryo blew the attendant a kiss as she was dragged off the plane. "Biks?" he said into the phone. With his other hand, he guided Dee to sit down and glanced at him in concern. "Let me talk to Grandma please."

Dee looked up sharply at Ryo, realizing he was speaking to their son the entire time and started to laugh. As he laughed, the color started to come back. "Oh my God!" he hooted. "You're way too much sometimes, baby."

The man across the aisle from them guffawed loudly, overhearing Ryo's conversation, and went back to his paperwork, seeming undaunted by the delay.

"Sure Dad," Bikky remarked, laughing, having heard the entire confrontation. Ryo certainly was loud enough.

The flight captain's voice came over the loudspeaker as he announced there was to be a delay for a last minute crew change and they would be on their way as quickly as they could. Groans filled the interior of the plane at the announcement. Ryo had a sudden feeling that him and Dee were not the most popular passengers on that flight. Probably even less so for some who might have had issues with Carriers and/or gays. He quickly shrugged it off, figuring that they could have been on their way if there were no people with prejudice and felt a touch annoyed that him and Dee were not on their way already because of stupidity and narrow-mindedness.

"Grandma!" Bikky called out, after waiting out the announcement. "Dad wants to talk to you. He almost got himself arrested on their plane," he laughed.

"Bikky!" Ryo cried out indignantly. "It was not even close. And you know Obasan prefers to be called Obasan, not… oh, hi Grandma," he greeted when he heard Estelle speak into the phone.

"What's this about almost getting arrested?" she asked in concern. "What did they do to you or Dee?"

"Both, but it was directed toward Dee mostly," Ryo replied. "And I didn't almost get arrested. But I was pretty angry and upset."

"Tell me about it, Randy."

As Ryo started to repeat the incident to his grandmother, the pregnant woman from the 12th row came over to them, looking upset. "I am so so sorry for all the trouble I caused," she apologized to both men.

Ryo stood up. "Grandma, hold on a moment." To the woman, he said, "It wasn't you, ma'am. I'm sorry you thought it was."

Dee waved off her apology and smiled up at her. "It's not your fault, sweetheart. You had no idea of what we already went through."

Ryo nodded in agreement, noting the woman started to relax a little. "We would have had words even if you hadn't been on the plane. It wasn't you. It was her." He spoke into the phone. "Grandma, you still there?" With his eyes and a slight smile, he excused himself to continue speaking to his grandmother.

The woman already was giving her attention to Dee. "Still, I feel bad," she said to him. "Us pregnant people need to stick together after all."

"Yeah we do," Dee replied, giving her a charming smile. "Thank you."

Ryo paused from talking to Estelle. "When are you due?" he asked the woman.

"In early July," she replied.

"Same month we are," Ryo stated. "Only later in the month. Unless our MOP decides to move up Dee's c-section date. Which he might. He says the baby is developing very well from what he could tell, and might decide not to take chances of Dee going into labor before his time."

The woman smiled at them. "My brother, he just had a baby. And I just had to go see him and my nephew. He had an early labor, or else I would have been there for the birth."

Ryo gave her a warm smile. "Well, good for him and his son."

"Congratulations on your nephew," Dee said with a smile. He took Ryo's free hand and squeezed it. "We're on our honeymoon," he offered.

Ryo squeezed Dee's hand back, with a loving smile for his husband. "Married less than 24 hours ago."

"Oh! I'm really sorry. And congratulations. I should have known. You both have a glow that's more than the baby."

"Excuse me again," he said to the woman. "I'm sorry, Grandma. Oh, okay. I'll hold for Obasan." He looked at Dee. "Apparently both Grandma and Obasan are there with Biks."

Dee chuckled. "Grandma is probably making sure Obasan is settled in before heading off back to the Hamptons."

"As if there aren't any Aokis still roaming loose in the city," Ryo chuckled. "Obasan! How was the rest of the brunch?" He sat down and started to speak to his grandmother in Japanese.

Dee laughed at the surprised look on the woman's face at Ryo's flawless, fluent Japanese. "He doesn't look it, but he's part Japanese," Dee explained.

Ryo suddenly looked up, realizing the woman was still standing. He jumped up from his seat. "Oh my God, forgive my rudeness," he apologized to her. He indicated the seat he just got up from and moved to the side. "Please, if you're going to chat while we're waiting, you should be off your feet."

"I'm Dee Laytner-MacLean," Dee introduced himself as the woman sat down. "And this is my husband Randy."

"I'm Lois Dragone," she replied, shaking Dee's offered hand. "Pleased to meet you both."

"It's a pleasure, Lois," Ryo said, also shaking her hand, then went back to speaking on the phone.

While they talked, one of the attendants from business class came over to assure they were all comfortable and to offer drinks to everyone in first class during the wait.

A few minutes later, the Captain came out from the cockpit and walked over to them. "We're exchanging flight attendants with another flight. Your first class attendant will be boarding shortly, and then we can get settled to be on our way."

"Would you like to sit here a while longer, or would you like an escort back to your seat, ma'am?" Ryo asked her with a smile.

"I should go back to my seat," Lois replied. "But perhaps we can have dinner tonight, after I go see my brother in the hospital?"

Dee and Ryo exchanged a glance and Dee cleared his throat, while Ryo smiled.

"Oh! Nevermind. Forgive me. What am I thinking? You're honeymooners" Lois exclaimed, slapping her forehead. "I'm just a silly woman."

Ryo chuckled. "I'm afraid we won't be available tonight." He pulled out his wallet and took out his business card. "But once you have that baby, call us and we'll arrange for a play date or two, if you'd like."

"Or even before then. Maybe sometime next month, we'll go out for dinner properly."

"I'd like that," the woman replied. She took her card out from her purse. "Enjoy your flight." She smiled at Dee. "And just relax. It should be easier in your second trimester. Even after being upset from a rude and thoughtless flight attendant."

"I'll take your word for it, Lois," Dee replied with a wink. "It's been great talking to you. And hope to get a chance for more over dinner sometime."

Ryo escorted her back to her seat, aware of a few glances cast in his direction. He ignored them as he made sure Lois was settled in, then went back to his seat. "She's so fired," Ryo said about the attendant.

Dee chuckled and took Ryo's hand. He leaned over to lightly kiss Ryo. "I love you, you know that."

"And I love you too." Ryo smiled brightly, studying Dee's handsome face. "And I'm sorry, but I just had to."

"I know, Ryo. It's fine."

They kissed again. "Now you were saying something about selecting an in-flight movie?" Ryo asked.

Dee laughed. "Pick something you know you'll like, because I might be snoozing through some of it."

They both settled in their seats as the new first class attendant came aboard and the flight crew prepared for departure. As the plane finally started to be towed away from the terminal, Dee rested his head against Ryo's shoulder and closed his eyes, smiling.


	29. Southern Inhospitality

Minutes after the word came from downstairs that the newlyweds were on their way to the airport, most of the guests went back

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 29 – Southern Inhospitality

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Minutes after the word came from downstairs that the newlyweds were on their way to the airport, most of the guests went back to mingling, gravitating toward the family to extend their well wishes, and once again compliment the wedding. The dessert bar was still open, along with coffee, tea and soft drinks.

Rose searched among the wedding party, and found most of his men together, along with the others from the wedding party. Some of them looked as if they were getting ready to leave themselves. He went over to the group, stopping next to Diana, who was once again dabbing her eyes.

"Don't they just look so happy?" Diana asked as he placed his arm around her.

"Yes, they did. I hope they enjoy their honeymoon and forgot about everything going on here during the time," Rose said. "Because I dread when they return."

Diana nodded.

"Adams, Parker," Rose called out. When the two men looked in his direction, he said, "Party time is over. I allowed this to go on long enough, but I was not going to raise Ryo and Dee's suspicions during their wedding. The less they knew, the better they'll enjoy their honeymoon. However, gather everyone and meet us back at the precinct in an hour."

Drake frowned, but JJ looked completely forlorn. "Yes sir," JJ sighed. "I was hoping to have some more time off, but you're right."

Rose nodded.

"Thankfully no one mentioned anything about yesterday's findings," Drake stated. "So as far as we know, they don't know anything about it."

"Good. Now let's work on how to keep a couple of other things out of the media. It's been a lovely wedding, gentlemen. We'll see you back at work," Rose said, then escorted Diana toward the door.

"Berkeley, we can't just go without at least taking our leave with Mother Lane and Ryo's grandparents," Diana protested.

"Yes. Yes, of course, you're right. I'm sorry, Diana. I've been on edge since we arrived for the wedding yesterday, worrying that Dee will find out some things I'd rather keep from him until he's back. And hopefully by then, it won't matter. I was putting a lot of faith that newlywed couples don't read the newspaper on their first morning as a married couple."

"It's okay now, Berks. Let's go take our leave, then I'll need to take a quick stop to put on something more suited for work."

"Then let's get going." With satisfaction, he noticed Drake and JJ, along with Ted and Marty, checking in with the immediate family before heading out.

# # #

Drake and JJ entered the CI squad room, finding Marty and Ted already there.

"Do you have any idea what time we'll be cut loose today?" Ted asked.

Drake shook his head. "Nope."

"At least you and JJ have second shift today. But Marty and I were supposed to have today off," Ted complained.

"Quit your whining," Rose's voice came into the office. He entered with Diana. "Believe me, gentlemen, if I didn't feel it was so important, I would have gladly enjoyed the rest of my day off too. But we have a job to do. Montgomery and Martinson, I assume you are aware that we had two new victims yesterday?"

Marty and Ted nodded. "And we have Janet to thank for causing a bigger delay, which made it possible to keep it from Dee and Ryo that some of their wedding party was running late because they were at new scenes," Marty stated.

Diana laughed. "Oh my. Now that it all turned out for the better, it is funny. I'm sorry. Janet's little mishap that is."

Rose leaned against one of the desks. "Sit down, everyone, and let's get going then. Drake and JJ probably know the most out of us. However, I did make some calls this morning before showing up for the brunch, and found out a few rather disturbing details."

"Like what, sir?" Ted asked.

"Like the Queens M.E. is giving the red-tape line to us regarding the Corona victim's autopsy. Our Battery Park victim's autopsy is scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon. Parker and Adams, I expect you to be there. Then follow up with C.S.U. on what else do they have on both victims. See if you can get the belongings of both victims signed into your custody. I don't care what those Queens detectives have to say about it," Rose said. "Now listen up, because I don't want anyone in this room to take this the wrong way. Diana and I will be working this afternoon on turning this case over to the FBI." He still expected mouths to open, starting to protest. "Hear me out, gentlemen. Diana is hoping to get the case. That is what we are working for. Then Parker and Adams will still remain the catching detectives on this case, working with the FBI. Martinson and Montgomery, you will give any assistance you can while working other cases. If we end up with more bodies in the other boroughs and out of our jurisdiction, I still want pull on the cases. This will be the only way. Those detectives over in Queens are dragging their feet over this case. At least they put in 24 hours in obtaining whatever information they can get, but they're finding excuses as of this morning to go for 48. I don't want that to happen. The 1st in lower Manhattan isn't giving us trouble and willing to work together with us."

Groans came around the room. "So we have our brothers in Queens with some prejudice problems?" JJ asked.

Rose nodded. He pointed to Ted and Marty. "I know today was to be a day off, but I need you to head over to Queens with Diana later this afternoon, to pick up the slack we're getting over there. So help me, if I need to call a press conference to clear up why Manhattan detectives are putting their noses in the Queens jurisdiction, and cry prejudice, I will. But I'm trying to avoid it. The less profile we have, except for the occasional statement to assure we're still busting ass on this case, the less chance of another important fact leaking out. And at least until Dee and Ryo return from their honeymoon, I want this out of the press. I don't want to take a chance of them reading the Times, or Daily News online or watching CNN and hearing about this."

Drake frowned. "I doubt they'd come running back from the Bahamas because they found out there were new victims."

"You ask me, I think that it would give Ryo more a reason to keep Dee away from here and safe for at least that time," Marty added.

"It's not just the victims. It's what C.S.U. told me was found on the Queens victim. It escaped notice from their detectives, thank goodness. So far, we're the only ones who know, thanks to good friends in the right places. So Drake and JJ, you'll have to go over to the Bronx and pick up photos of that very important piece of evidence."

"We have evidence?" Drake asked, hopefully.

"So far they can't find anything to run checks on, but there was a note left behind. Within the Corona victim."

"Within?" JJ asked.

Rose nodded. "Yes. Inside the incision made to remove the fetus."

"What did that note say?" Ted asked.

Rose sighed. He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Diana's mouth was a thin line. "Diana, would you please inform them, since officially, the FBI retains custody of the evidence?"

Diana looked at the faces of the men she had come to know as friends. "It said, that unless the NYPD lets go of any active duty Carriers, starting next week, the killings will increase weekly, the toll going up by one for each week we don't make a public statement that we purged the NYPD of all Carriers." She cleared her throat. "And we should start with Dee."

Shocked looks stared back at her. She nodded. "Yes, according to the person I spoke to at C.S.U. this morning, Dee's name was mentioned in the note."

"Holy shit," Ted muttered. "Now I understand why you made sure we played it off as all is normal." He looked over to Rose.

"Indeed. I believe I know Dee well enough that it would probably put an end to their honeymoon," Rose stated.

"Or the start of a very long vacation, because I'm afraid Dee will just turn in his badge and gun for the sake of any potential victims," Diana added.

The others nodded.

"Yeah, he would," JJ agreed. "Dee may act like a hard-ass, or even a jerk-off about doing work, but he cares. That's why he says he can't see himself doing anything else. But this would make him change his mind, simply because he does care."

Rose sighed again. "As you can guess, we have our work cut out for us in the next two weeks. Do not mention this anywhere outside this office, because I won't have it leaked to the press."

"What if our killer decides to leak it, when he hears nothing?" Marty asked with a frown.

"Then we'll deal with the damage control then. In the meantime, I believe it would not be a bad idea to come up with a couple of plans just in case."

JJ stood up. "In other words, you want us to work overtime and catch this bastard before Ryo and Dee return from their honeymoon."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for, Detective Adams. Now if you gentlemen would start heading out to your assigned positions and check back with me every two hours. I don't care how small it might seem, I want to know. Meanwhile, Diana and I will be working on getting the case turned over to the FBI, so we'll have total jurisdiction, regardless of where our next victim turns up. After that, we'll be joining you out in the field. That's all for now."

"Yes, sir," Drake replied. He looked at the other men. "Well, you heard them. If for nothing else, this time it's for Dee."

Heads nodded and they all prepared to head out in hopes of obtaining information that would lead them to finding their killer.

# # #

After the disturbing start, the rest of the flight went well. Dee felt only mildly uncomfortable, but was able to sleep through more than half the flight. When they arrived at the airport in Atlanta, and went to get their luggage, they noticed they were getting more stares and glares than they would in New York. Many people stared at Dee particularly, then turned their heads in disgust. A young mother quickly ushered her children away from them as they entered the baggage claim area.

Ryo maintained his arm around Dee, both men acting as if they did not notice anything amiss. Inside the baggage claim, they found a man in a livery uniform, holding a sign simply saying, "Laytner-MacLean". He was their driver, and the man helped them take their luggage out to the waiting limo. Dee let out a visible sigh of relief once they were in the car, and Ryo allowed himself to relax. Both men could not wait until they arrived at the hotel, glad of plans to eat in the room and not go out until the next morning when they left to catch their flight to Miami.

The driver was not rude to them, but he was not overly friendly either. He was merely professional, doing his job. As he turned over their luggage to a bellhop at the hotel, and got into the car, it was easy to see his relief to getaway from them.

Ryo gritted his teeth as he took out a five dollar bill, regretting to give the driver even that much. It did not occur to him, Dee or anyone involved in planning their honeymoon that some parts of the south was still severely conservative about certain issues. Carriers, they were quickly discovering, was one of them in Atlanta. Ryo decided once they were settled in their room, and he got Dee to take a nap, he was going to look into some websites for Carrier friendly businesses. There had to be at least one limo company in the area. Once he found it, he intended to cancel the pick up the next morning with the company they currently had reservations with.

The bellhop glared at Dee before pushing the luggage cart just inside the main lobby of the hotel, and stopped, leaving Ryo and Dee to continue on their way to the front desk. They did not see the bellhop chuckle as he glanced down the window to the street to affirm their ride was pulling away from the loading zone.

They stopped before the front desk. Dee had never before in his life felt so acutely uncomfortable from stares in his life. It took all the attitude he had gathered through his life to keep his head held high and not hang like he found himself wanting to do. He wanted to strike out at everyone who made it known they had a problem with him, and he wanted to run from the looks of disgust.

Ryo's face muscles were taunt, just as the rest of his body was. He maintained a hand on Dee's back, and was ready to jump into action to defend Dee and himself, should anyone decide to take their prejudice to the physical level.

Dee caught the attention of the front desk clerk. "Excuse me," he called out, trying to sound normal.

"Oh, I'm sorry, gentlemen, but we are full for the night," the clerk said, the apology clearly phony.

"That's nice," Dee remarked. "Good thing we have reservations, huh? Laytner-MacLean, for one night."

The clerk studied Dee, then Ryo, and all but turned his back on them as he went to the computer. "Laytner-MacLean," he repeated. "How would you spell that?"

"L-A-Y-T-N-E-R hyphen M-A-C-L-E-A-N," Ryo enunciated slowly. "I have our confirmation number, if that will help."

"I'm sorry, sirs. I don't see it in our system. And we just booked our last room for the night about a half hour ago, according to our system."

Dee and Ryo exchanged a glance.

"We had a reservation for the Grand Honeymoon suite," Ryo stated. "Surely someone did not just grab that up last minute." He glared at the clerk, seeing through the deception.

"That we did. I'm so sorry, but I guess you'll have to find somewhere else to stay, yes?"

Dee drummed his fingers on the wood counter. "I think not. We have had these reservations for a week and a half now. So perhaps whoever you had so suddenly given the suite to can find somewhere else to stay." He sneered at the clerk. "Yes?"

The clerk sighed. "This is a fine establishment."

"And? So?" Ryo snapped, pulling a paper out of an appointment book in his carry on. He slapped it on the desk. "You see this here? This is our confirmation for the suite for tonight, March 12, 2006. As you can see, we already have paid for it. I can show you the account history on the card and show you that the money has already been taken for this reservation. So I don't care if the President is in that damn suite, you will explain that there has been a mix up to whomever is in that room, and have them leave. Do you understand me? Just because you have a problem with gays, gives you no excuse to steal our money. Because this is theft."

The clerk looked at Ryo, meeting his eyes. "We will gladly refund the money for the mix up. Because I'm sure you don't understand, and surely whoever you made the reservations with did not know, but, while we can tolerate homosexuals, as I stated to your… partner, this is a fine establishment. As such, his kind…" the clerks eyes went to Dee, "are not welcome here."

Dee thankfully moved quicker than Ryo and caught his husband before the brown haired man was able to jump the counter. "Ryo!" Dee snapped. "Don't! Do you want to give these assholes the satisfaction of spending our honeymoon in jail?"

"I'll tell you what will give me satisfaction," Ryo growled, clenching his fists and glaring daggers at the clerk. "But you're right, Dee. We'll take our business somewhere else. In fact, we'll make sure everyone we know will take their business elsewhere too."

The clerk snorted. "That would be highly advisable. Should I call a cab for you?"

Dee stood his ground, shooting a nasty glare at the clerk. "Don't hold your breath." To Ryo, he said, "Did you forget why we selected this particular hotel for our stay tonight. And why we picked Atlanta in the first place?"

"Oh!" Ryo remarked, and took out his cell phone. He pressed a speed dial button and waited until her heard the call picked up. "Grandma? Yes, we're in Atlanta. And you know what? There are assholes running this hotel."

"Randy!" Estelle remarked. "What happened now? Tell me, and I'll fix it."

The clerk rolled his eyes and laughed. "The little queer has to call his granny to cry to," he muttered.

Dee's stormy eyes settled on the clerk, hearing what he said. "I hope you don't need your job, shithead," he remarked. Taking out his cell phone, he turned his back on the clerk and walked away from the counter, ignoring the looks of others mingling near the front desk. He went over to the rail, and looked up as he dialed the reservations number for the hotel. The rest of the "lobby" of the hotel raised above him for another 12 floors. When someone answered the phone, asking if they could help him, he said, "Yes. Hi. I know it's last minute, but do you have any rooms available for your hotel in Atlanta? My wife and I just eloped and I would love to make up to her for the rush wedding by having a very luxurious hotel for our wedding night."

"Just one minute, sir." Dee waited, glancing back to see Ryo pacing madly, as he continued to rant on the phone to his grandmother. "Sir? We have a sudden opening for the grand honeymoon suite for tonight. It's very pricy, so I'll have to take a confirmed reservation with a credit card."

"No problem," Dee replied, taking out his own credit card and making the reservation. As he came close to the end of the transaction, he started to walk back to the front desk, scribbling the confirmation number on a piece of paper he grabbed from a table. "Honey," he called out to Ryo. "I hear there's a honeymoon suite suddenly available here for tonight." To the reservation clerk, he said, "I thank you very much for your help, ma'am. Have a good night."

Ryo paused from his conversation to look over at Dee, then to glare at the desk clerk. "Oh? How odd."

Dee slapped the paper on the desk. "I'd like to have our room now," he demanded.

"Apparently whomever you spoke to overbooked for the night."

"Bullshit!" Dee growled.

"Grandma," Ryo said. "I'd please like you to talk to the desk clerk who told us that 'our kind' isn't allowed here." He held out his cell to the clerk. "Estelle MacLean would like to talk to you."

"Okay, so Estelle MacLean wants to talk to me. Big deal. I'll tell your granny the same thing I told you. We still don't allow freaks like him here."

Dee's eyes went wide and he backed away from the desk a step, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He quickly turned away, finally dropping his head, not wanting to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him near tears. His hands were clenched in fists.

Ryo slammed his hand on the desk, making everything on it rattle from the force. A vase with flowers tipped over. "THAT'S IT!" he roared. "We don't have to take this shit from you, or anyone else. Fuck it! We're going somewhere else!"

"Good luck with finding something decent as long as you have him," the clerk stated with a sneer. "Now if you don't stop yelling expletives and making threatening gestures, I will see to it that your stay will be in jail. I'll give you five minutes to leave before I call the police."

From Ryo's cell, they heard a very irate voice come loudly over the phone. "You put your manager on right now!"

The clerk grabbed the phone Ryo had placed on the counter during his rant. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but this hotel has codes. This hotel is designated as a Carrier-free zone."

"I'll have you know I own that hotel and my grandson, whom you are giving a hard time will inherit it one day. And pass it on to his child, the child that the man whom you called a 'freak' is Carrying."

Ryo narrowed his eyes, giving the clerk a dangerous look. "Manager. Now. And before you think about calling the police…." He held up his wallet with his shield that he had taken out of his carry on. "It's already too fuckin' late. 'Cause we are the police. Obviously for a better city than this one."

Dee pulled himself together and turned to face Ryo again. "Bastard," he snapped to the clerk as he turned. He also showed the clerk his shield. "Surprise. This is a sting operation." He sneered at the clerk.

The clerk started to look nervous, gulping as he looked from the shield to Ryo's stormy look. "Um, be right back."

Ryo picked up the phone as the clerk scampered quickly to the office. "Grandma, I'll call you back. Thanks for putting in a good word for us." He blew a kiss into the phone and hung up, placing it into his jacket pocket. "Once I give them a piece of my mind, we're finding somewhere else to stay," he told Dee, looking over at his husband with concern. "There has to be at least one Carrier-friendly hotel in this goddamn city."

Dee sighed heavily, leaning against the counter. "I like this hotel, despite the assholes in it. I want to stay here. I'm tired, and achy from the travel. And I'm not feeling so well at the moment. I just want to get into a room, any room, and shut the damned door and relax."

Ryo put his arm around Dee again. He heard the rest that Dee did not say. Dee wanted to close the door and hide from the insensitive jerks around them. "Baby, why don't you go sit down while I handle this? If you want a room here, we'll get a room here." He leaned up to kiss Dee. "I promise I'll make sure there are no witnesses." He winked at Dee.

Dee hugged Ryo. "Don't hurt anyone. Okay? I'd hate for you to carry me into our honeymoon suite with you having blood on your clothes."

Ryo chuckled. "Yes dear," he remarked and kissed Dee again. "Now sit down and get off your feet. I love you."

"Love you too." Dee went to sit down on a couch in the area by the front desk. He ignored the man and woman who were sitting on another couch get up, and while walking away, glaring at him.

The manager came out from the office. "What's this about the owner's grandson?" he asked, coming over to Ryo.

Ryo was on his cell phone again and held up a finger to the manager, hardly sparing him a glance. Making the manager wait, he turned his back to start talking into the phone. "Hello? Is this the Carrier Anti-Defamation Hotline? Do you happen to have all of Atlanta listed as an Anti-Carrier zone? No? Well, we are downtown. At the Peachtree Plaza hotel. It's not a good environment, considering you just said that downtown is supposed to be Carrier-friendly. But I'm calling to report the hotel staff of this particular hotel. Please hold on and listen to this while I deal with the hotel manager."

He turned to face the manager again. "You see that pregnant man over there?" Ryo asked, indicating Dee. He noticed Dee take out his cell and answer it. Ryo was wondering who would be calling, knowing Dee was on his honeymoon. "Your receptionist called him a freak. To his face. Twice." Before the manager could respond, he added, "I'm Detective Randy Ryo Laytner-MacLean. That gentleman there happens to be my new husband. And he is Carrying the great-grandchild of Franklin and Estelle MacLean. My grandparents. The owners of this hotel." He gave the manager what those he worked with termed the smile of doom.

The manager looked from Dee, who was still talking on the phone and looking in their direction, back to Ryo. "We usually do not allow Carriers to stay here. It upsets the normal guests. Our hotel has a reputation of being a safe haven from those genetic mutants."

Ryo's eyes grew large, before becoming dark slits. "Funny how you don't see that claim on your webpage," he commented.

"Of course not, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," the man still on the phone stated, having hearing the manager's reply. "Because it would be illegal, since the Petre-Allen law passed in 2002, making it illegal for establishments to discriminate based on race, sex, sexual orientation and Carrier status."

Ryo snorted. "I hear you." To the manager and the man on the phone, he said, "I also know my grandparents, who recently purchased this hotel, has a mission statement for their hotel chain, stating it will not deny people based on the same."

"Sir, we are a 5-diamond establishment," the manager said.

"And you, your desk clerk and staff are about to have your asses sued."

"Of course," the manager said in a tone hoping to placate the furious man before him, "if you prove that you are indeed the heir of Franklin MacLean, we can accommodate you. The general staff does not know the name of the previous owner, never mind the new one. The hotel was just acquired in the last few months. And I had just recently come on duty, and did not have a chance to review the database for today's guest to check for any names that should be flagged for possible distinctive service."

Ryo rolled his eyes and pulled out his passport, his NY driver's license and his work ID. "I'd like to make it clear that we're only staying here because my husband is tired, upset and needs to lay down as soon as possible. This has been very upsetting to him, and that's not good for the baby." He gave the manager a glare, daring him to remotely indicate any ill wishes for the unborn child just because it was a man having it.

"I will have to contact Franklin MacLean, of course. There are many MacLeans in this country. And he might not be available, I should warn you. I understand he was at a wedding this weekend."

Ryo stared at the manager incredulously. "Did you understand a word I said? New husband? Honeymoon? Hello…that was our wedding he was in attendance for. You know, for me, his grandson, and the Carrier over there."

The manager sighed and went to look up the number to start calling through the computer system.

Ryo drummed his fingers on the counter, annoyed. "Obviously if you have the room to put us up, once you are satisfied that I am who I claim to be, then you are not booked full, and the suite that we paid for TWICE with credit card confirmations is indeed available. So, I insist you start checking us in while you talk."

"When we first heard of our new owner, we were told that he does not tolerate gays and Carriers. The hotel's statement is only there in accordance to law."

Ryo smirked. "Well you heard wrong. In fact, he kissed the baby bump before we left for our honeymoon earlier today. But by all means, hear it from him yourself."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the phone number we have on file is not picking up. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you," the manager stated.

"You have that suite available and we paid for it. So help me, I do have connections with the police here from a case we worked a couple of years ago. And a call to the BBB would be next," Ryo warned him.

Dee stood up and started to walk toward them, still talking on the phone. He held out the phone to the manager, giving the manager a smug look. "I happen to have Estelle MacLean on the phone. She called me to see if I'm okay. Both her and her husband would love to speak to you." He handed the cell phone over to the manager.

Ryo gazed at Dee amazed, and then started to smile for the first time since they entered the hotel. Dee winked at Ryo and chuckled, putting his arm about his husband. Ryo noticed that Dee was leaning on him slightly.

Ryo started to rub his belly. "You go sit down again, love. We'll be in our room shortly. Then you relax for a bit, while I completely pamper you." He leaned up to kiss Dee. "You feeling okay, baby?"

The manager had paled as he held the phone. "H-hello? Mrs. MacLean?" Lovely day, isn't it?"

"It will be once I'm assured my grandson and grandson-in-law are both in the suite I personally selected for them to stay in," Estelle greeted. "So first, before anything else, get those boys into their room right now. Then when they're on their way, my husband would like to discuss personnel changes in the hotel. Along with changes of hotel policy."

"Y-yes ma'am," the manager stammered. "And we will charge back both credit cards, I can assure you."

Softly, Ryo said in Japanese to Dee, "I'm sorry, love." He kissed Dee again. "They're all going to get fired. I promise."

"No doubt, from the way your grandmother sounded," Dee replied back in kind. "But…." He sighed wearily. "I just want to get away from all the looks. Now."

Ryo turned to face the lobby and the few guests mingling and gawking at Dee, most of them with looks of disgust. "TAKE A PICTURE!" he yelled. Satisfied, he watched as everyone in the lobby decided they had somewhere else to be.

The manager quickly spoke into a walkie-talkie and a few minutes later, a bellhop with their luggage came from the entryway. The manager held out a card key and gave it to the bellhop. "Please take these gentlemen up to the Presidential suite. And treat them with courtesy and respect. Do you understand? Gentlemen, I will take care of your check in while I speak to Mr. MacLean."

The bellhop glared at Dee. "Yeah. Okay." He started to push the cart in the direction of the elevator banks for the higher floors of the 73 story hotel. "This way, gentlemen."

Ryo glared at the back of the bell hop, who apparently did not realize they were not following him. Or most likely, Ryo surmised, he did not care.

Dee hovered at the front desk, before the manager, hard eyes fixed on his cell phone. Ryo smirked. Dee could make one intimidating figure when he wanted.

The manager appeared to pale upon noticing Dee. The manager still held Dee's cell phone, and from the tone of voice coming through the speaker, was getting an earful from a very angry Estelle MacLean.

"Um, ma'am? Mrs. MacLean? Could you call me back on the direct line in the office, so I can give Mr. Laytner-MacLean his phone back? They should be on their way to their room."

Ryo had his wallet out, idly fiddling with it, appearing in thought as the manager hung up the phone and handed it back to Dee. He rushed back to the office when the phone inside started to ring.

Ryo grasped Dee's hand as they went after the bellhop, who waited by the elevator. Dee was silent, but continued to glare at the bellhop as they approached the elevator banks.

A maid came out of an elevator and smiled pleasantly at them. "Good evening, gentlemen," the dark skinned woman greeted.

Ryo stopped her. "Excuse me, but what's your name?" he asked.

The girl appeared startled. She glanced at the bellhop nervously and gulped, before looking at Ryo again. Ryo noticed the reaction as someone who would constantly find herself in trouble, even if her intentions were otherwise. He was able to take a quick guess why, considering the other staff members they had encountered.

"Cari-Ann, sir," she replied timidly.

"Cari-Ann," Ryo repeated. "A beautiful name for a beautiful young lady. What's your last name?"

"It's Fulton." Cari-Ann was blushing at Ryo's compliment and his kind smile.

Dee gazed on in interest, wondering what his devious husband was up to now. The bellhop appeared to be ignoring them, but Dee noted his stance and the way his head ever so slightly tilted, knowing he was most likely listening. He would not be surprised if word went back to the manager that Cari-Ann was making nice-nice with the monsters.

Ryo pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet, committing her name to memory. He intended to give her name to his grandmother, to assure Cari-Ann would be left out of the personnel changes. "This is for you, my dear," he said to her. "For being the first person in this place who has been friendly to us."

The poor girl looked like she was about to faint as she looked at the bill Ryo held out to her. She glanced cautiously at the bellhop. "Oh no, sir. I couldn't. It's not a big deal. After all, you are both very attractive men, and seem so in love. How could one not smile at such beauty?"

"Indeed," Dee muttered, casting another glare at the bellhop's back. "You'd be surprised, sweetheart."

"I insist," Ryo said, placing the money in her hand. "Because it shouldn't be a big deal, but obviously it is. And if anyone," his head turned to the bellhop, "has a problem with the owner's grandson giving out big tips, then they can take it up with my grandfather."

The bellhop trembled.

Dee chuckled and winked at the maid. "Have a nice day, Cari-Ann."

"Are you working tonight?" Ryo asked.

"Yes sir, I am."

"Good. Then I'm going to request that only you are allowed to come near our room. The offensive attitude of the others is not good for my husband's state of mind. Especially in his condition." Ryo glared at the bellhop again.

"Well, thank you, sir." Cari-Ann replied with a pleasant smile.

"We'll see you later," Ryo said.

"Oh," Dee added, "if we order room service, would you be so kind and make sure no one spits in it or something like that?"

Ryo rolled his eyes, but feared that Dee might not be very far off the truth. "Maybe we should just order from outside and have it delivered?"

"When you gentlemen are ready for dinner, have them send me up to your room. I know of some nice places nearby that will deliver. I'll even go get your food too."

"That would be awesome, Cari-Ann," Dee said. "Thanks so much. Well, later then." He winked at her, and taking Ryo's hand, went to stand just behind the bellhop.

The man sighed as he moved aside to allow Dee and Ryo to get in the elevator. He looked at Dee as the doors closed and shuddered as he put the keycard into a slot on the panel. "You'll have to use the keycard here before you can push the button to your floor," he explained, not sounding very thrilled to be there.

Ryo ignored him as he leaned closer to Dee. He placed a hand on Dee's back, while with his other, he started to gently rub Dee's bump. He leaned up to kiss Dee's cheek. "We're almost there, love," he softly said.

Dee nodded, then smiled a little, glancing at Ryo. "Baby's moving," he stated.

Ryo's smile got brighter when he felt the slight movement with his hand. "I can tell," he replied. "Are you being good for Daddy?" he asked, looking down at the baby bump.

The bellhop shifted uncomfortably, glancing up at the floor buttons light up as the elevator ascended to the near top floor of the hotel tower, hoping it would get there fast.

"She's being good," Dee replied. "But I think she's upset a little too."

"With all the assholes we've encountered today, I don't blame him."

Dee sighed heavily. "I knew we'd encounter some, but until now, we've been more or less lucky."

"Ignorant idiots, the lot of them."

Dee lifted his head, his gaze settling on the bellhop. He straightened his shoulders, once more taking on the stance of arrogance, and pride. "But I am not a freak!" he proclaimed loudly. "And our baby is NOT a monster!"

The bellhop shifted uncomfortably again, almost shrinking into the wall he stood against. "Almost there," he mumbled.

Dee indicated with his thumb behind him and the glass wall, with the city of Atlanta beyond, seeming to get smaller as they went further up. "If you want to go through a wall, I'd suggest that one."

Ryo smirked and kissed Dee's cheek. "Easy, Dee. For some people, ignorance is bliss, but for those of us who are enlightened, it's boring."

Dee nodded and smiled gently at Ryo.

The bellhop started to look relieved as the button with a 'P' marked on it lit up. "Here we are," he announced.

The elevator doors opened to a very richly appointed entryway. Dee's eyes went wide again. Ryo smiled, finding it adorable how it still amazed Dee to find himself in luxury, especially after their wedding and all the parties leading up to the weekend. As long as Dee didn't go around, gawking and acting like an idiot about it, like he used to, Ryo found it endearing. He sighed, realizing that as annoying as that was in the past, even that was endearing. 'I really have it bad for him,' Ryo thought as they watched the bellhop wheel the luggage cart off the elevator.

Ryo smirked at Dee, giving him a devious wink, letting Dee know he was up to something again.

"This is it," the bellhop announced. "There's no finer room in all of Georgia."

Dee went to step off the elevator when Ryo stopped him by grabbing Dee by his upper arm.

"What?" Dee asked, turning to look at Ryo.

Ryo grinned at him. "Shall I pick you up here, since this is the threshold?"

The bellhop's eyes went wide. "Would you like your bags in the master chamber?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Dee spared a quick glare back to the shaken bellhop before looking at Ryo. Giggling, he nodded, a little wicked smile on his face.

"Just leave them right here, it's fine," Ryo instructed the bellhop, moving closer to Dee, placing his arm around Dee's waist.

Dee put his arms around Ryo's neck. "I'd love for you to carry me over the threshold," he replied.

Ryo's smile was wide, then he picked Dee up. The bellhop looked like he wanted to run, and get as far from them as possible, even if it meant going through the glass wall windows of the living room beyond and going down the 71 floors the hard way.

Dee gave Ryo an impish grin after looking in a corner of the elevator. As Ryo started to step off the elevator, he reached out for the vase on a small corner table, filled with long stem flowers. Dee grabbed onto the flowers, pulling them out of the vase and clenching them like a bouquet. "Ready, handsome," he laughed. He heard the bellhop mutter and shuffle further from them.

Ryo nearly dropped Dee as he started to laugh. He paused for a moment to catch his footing and redistribute Dee's weight before he carried Dee into the entryway of their suite bridal style. Dee fluttered the flowers in the bellhop's direction as they entered.

Ryo set Dee down in a plush armchair along a wall and kissed his nose. "Rest here a sec, and lemme take care of this."

Dee grinned up at Ryo, love and pride shining in dark green eyes.

"I would guess you'd like to be alone now, honeymoon and all," the bellhop quickly muttered, leaving the luggage on the rack and walking quickly to the elevator. "So I'll be leaving now."

Dee settled himself comfortably in the chair, feeling the relief in his body to finally be seated, and watched Ryo in action.

"Hold up," Ryo remarked, taking out his wallet again. He pulled a five dollar bill from it and went over to the man, now waiting in the elevator.

Dee covered his mouth and snickered, trying not to outright burst out into laughter. Both his and Ryo's wallets were filled with large bills, to tip or use as expenses on their way to the Bahamas. Until that moment, Ryo was proving to be a big tipper.

The bellhop went to take the money from Ryo's hand. "Thank you… Mr. MacLean…"

Ryo snatched the keycard from the bellhop's other hand. "We could use that, thank you," he stated. He put the money into the crack between the chute and the elevator. "Have a good night." He reached in to push the close door button. He wiggled his fingers at the surprised bellhop as the doors slid shut, with no tip.

He took a deep breath, then turned to Dee. "That. Was. Satisfying," he commented.

Dee broke out in laughter. He laughed so hard, he clenched his belly.

"Did you see that look?" Ryo asked as he approached Dee.

"Bastard didn't know what happened," Dee remarked, still laughing. He looked up at Ryo, smiling, and held out his arms. "I love you."

"My father did that once to a bitch of a waitress in Tokyo. I was about 14 at the time, and I'll never forget it." He smiled and bent down, kissing Dee lightly and then scooting him up in his arms again. "Except it was more money and in a fancy pariah tank."

Dee laughed. "You dad was an awesome man," he said. "And here I was thinking he did that in the Playboy Club in Roppongi." He laughed more as Ryo carried Dee into the bedroom.

"That was mom. Or so I hear." He smirked at Dee, and kissed him again.

"Don't tell me," Dee started as Ryo entered the bedroom. "You pulled out the five because you gave away your last hundred to Cari-Ann?" He winked at Ryo.

"Nah. He wasn't worth throwing a hundred bucks down the chute," Ryo replied. He kissed Dee again.

"Mmm…. Despite the trouble, happy honeymoon, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," Dee said.

"I'm sure. And happy honeymoon to you, too, Mr. Laytner-MacLean." He chuckled as he felt a slight movement against his abdomen coming from Dee's. "And you, Chibi Laytner-MacLean."

"Oh, and from speaking to your grandmother when she called me, I'd guess there will be a new staff to check us out tomorrow," Dee said.

Ryo settled Dee on the edge of the bed. "Good. If it was up to me, they'd be closed down."

"Why close down something you own?" Dee asked. "Just replace the staff." He grinned wickedly up at Ryo. "And start advertising as the Carrier friendly hotel in the South." He laughed.

"Ooh, I love the way you think, MacLean heir-apparent." He leaned over Dee to kiss him again.

Dee put his arms around Ryo's neck as they kissed. "Did I ever tell you that you're my hero?" he asked.

Ryo shook his head, trying to keep a straight face. "No. Had a kid tell me that when I saved her cat."

Dee laughed. "Well…" He laughed more. "I just did. I love you, Ryo."

With a loving smile, Ryo kissed Dee gently, moving him to lay back on the bed. "Must admit, this is a nice place," Ryo stated.

"I like it. And we have a whole floor to ourselves. We don't have to deal with assholes until we leave for the airport tomorrow." Dee pulled Ryo to lay down with him. "Come here, you," he said with a smile.

Ryo crawled to hover over Dee. "Dee?" he asked, suddenly looking serious, studying Dee's face.

"Hm?"

Ryo stoked his cheek reverently. "You are beautiful. No matter what," he intoned, his voice heavy with emotion.

Dee closed his eyes. "I…I know that," he said low. "But lately, sometimes when someone says something like that…" He sighed heavily and opened his eyes to gaze up at Ryo. "It hurts," he admitted.

Ryo heard the pain in Dee's voice. "I know, baby. It hurts me, too." He put a hand on Dee's stomach. "This is our baby. And seeing you in pain hurts me, too."

"I've never felt like that before, but when I hear them call me a freak, and our baby a monster. I'm sorry, but it doesn't roll off, like I first thought it would. It just hurts so freakin' much that people can think that." Dee sighed again as Ryo settled alongside Dee, pulling him in his arms, making Dee shift onto his side. "I guess when we planned out this trip to the Bahamas, we didn't consider that it isn't like back in New York down here."

Ryo kissed his neck. "Supposedly downtown Atlanta was to be a free zone for Carriers. I'm sorry people are stupid and ignorant."

Dee stroked Ryo's cheek with two fingers in a light caress. "Nothing for you to apologize for." Softly, he kissed Ryo. "It's not easy for you, either. I can see that. Besides, after all, you are 'The Monster-maker'."

Ryo smiled and kissed Dee back, stroking his hair. He chuckled and leaned over to kiss the baby bump. "Hear that, little monster?" he asked.

Dee giggled. "But you know what? I love you, Ryo. And I'd endure the stares and comments because this is your baby."

"That really makes me happy to hear, Dee." Ryo kissed the belly again. "Come out and be a pinko commie, tree-hugging, hairy-legged women libber, got it?" he said to their unborn child.

Dee laughed, running his fingers through Ryo's hair. Even if it's a boy?" he asked slyly.

"Yup. Even better. Men can be for women's right." To their baby, he said, "We'll give you all of Carol's old bras to burn, son."

Dee laughed more. "Might have trouble with hairy legs, girl or boy, considering me and you." He chuckled. "I'll tell you what's scary." He grinned as Ryo looked up at him.

"Hm?' Ryo asked. He started to gently rub Dee's belly again.

"I think I'm actually enjoying playing the rich bitch role and flinging names around. Even if months ago, I'd have never thought I'd be flinging your grandparents' names around."

Ryo's grin grew. "It was lovely watching everyone go all pale when they realize they're fucking with the owner's grandson, wasn't it?"

Dee chuckled. "Oh? And here I thought I was fucking with the owner's grandson." He continued to run his fingers through Ryo's hair, smiling at his husband.

"You're the only one allowed to, lover. Now how about I pull out some of our comfy night clothes and then you can take a nap for a bit before we call Cari-Ann to help us pick out what we want for dinner. Hell, I'd take pizza right now."

"That sounds good to me." Dee started to sit up. "I think I'd like to take a quick shower first. Maybe the water will help get some of the kinks out of my muscles."

"Why don't you take a bath then? And I'll be in there in a few minutes with a change of clothes?"

Dee nodded and smiled at Ryo. "And make sure I don't fall asleep in the tub?" he asked.

"Of course. I'll always look out for you," Ryo affirmed. "Because I can't imagine my life without you, Dee. I love you."

"Me too." They kissed for a minute before Dee crawled off the bed and went into the bathroom.

As Ryo got off the bed and started for the other rooms for their luggage, he had to laugh as he heard Dee's verbal expression from encountering another sunken, Jacuzzi bathtub in their suite.

"Ryo, it's all marble in this one too!" Dee called out.

Ryo laughed more. "Don't ever change, Dee,' he stated softly as he picked up their suitcases to carry into the bedroom.


	30. A Possible Break

Chapter 30

A Possible Break?

**March 13, 2006**

After a bad start to their honeymoon, things started to improve. They woke up in Atlanta to be greeted almost civilly by the man who delivered their breakfast to the room. Ryo learned the staff was in a state of major rearrangement, with many positions suddenly becoming vacant. His grandmother assured him that she was personally overseeing the interviewing process and had contacted several Carrier-friendly agencies in Atlanta for candidates to fill the soon to become vacant positions. The bellhop and the manager from the night before were already gone. Cari-Ann was being looked into for promotion. Apparently the hotel also had racial issues as far as hiring goes, Estelle had discovered. While Cari-Ann was qualified to rise above maid, her skin color kept her as one. From talking to her the night before, Ryo agreed with his grandmother and mentioned that he also had the impression that they managed to shoot down her self-confidence which prevented her from looking elsewhere for a job.

The bellhop who came to get their luggage and take it to their waiting car congratulated them for seeing that much needed changes were made. He let it slip that male employees of the hotel were released if management discovered they were a Carrier, even if said male was heterosexual, married and had a family the traditional way. The bellhop admitted that he had worked everyday in fear that he would be discovered and released. Dee and Ryo got him to further explain how him and his wife were saving up to go in virto. The year before his wife had complications during a miscarriage which left her unable to carry children to full term. He stepped up to the plate, knowing how much both of them wanted children of their own. The process was expensive, and he had too many years in the job to need to start over again. Later that day, when Estelle called Dee to make sure he was doing well, Dee told her about that bellhop, and quietly suggested he should get a bonus. Estelle jumped on it, as well as promising to look into health care provided to the employees, making sure that what the bellhop was hoping to do with his wife was covered in the insurance. By the time Dee hung up the phone, he loved Ryo's grandmother more for everything she was doing in righting a wrong situation.

The person who delivered their breakfast blamed them for disrupting a good situation in job, as he did not want to work with Carriers. The manager on duty that morning basically kissed their asses during the check-out process, which was not much of a process and took only a couple of minutes. Ryo was handed a receipt showing no charges on the room, or hotel services incurred, such as their breakfast. That morning, after making love, and waiting for their breakfast, Dee had checked his account for his credit card and confirmed that the charge for the room reservation he had made the night before was cancelled. Ryo checked his own AMEX card that he was using for the honeymoon and discovered the same. He happily reported that to his grandmother during his phone call with her that morning.

The night before, the attitude of the hotel staff upon checking in did little to lessen the mood they found themselves in once they were settled in their room. After their bath, they engaged in a mutual masturbation session, which helped in Dee taking a much needed nap for an hour. Cari-Ann arrived with their dinner from one of the nearby restaurants in downtown Atlanta. Ryo and Dee encouraged her to stay a while and talk to them about the situation at the hotel, about herself and life in Atlanta in general. After she left to return to work, they ate dinner by the window of the living room, looking out over the lights of Atlanta, as the hotel was the tallest building in the city. They snuggled and took their time with foreplay on a comforter they grabbed from a bed in the additional bedroom in their suite, and set on the floor near the window. Dee had brought Ryo to orgasm twice, and Ryo got Dee to once during their session. After laying down and dozing a while in each other's arms, they finally moved to the master bedroom, where Ryo made love to Dee. He took it slow, almost torturous for them, making Dee beg to be taken, crying out and writhing in that sexy way that still new to Ryo to watch, but looked forward to see more of it.

No more than ten minutes after they came from that round, they called it a night. Both men were too spent and exhausted to do nothing more than fall asleep, Ryo holding Dee in his arms.

While they were waiting for Cari-Ann to arrive with their dinner, Ryo took out the laptop they had with them. He canceled their reservation for the limo to the airport from the company that provided the car to the hotel, and looked up Carrier-friendly car services in the city. He managed to reserve them a Town Car for the next morning. Dee let Ryo know that he was not disappointed to lose out on the limousine, and would have gladly stood curbside, hailing an old, beaten up yellow taxi, if it meant having a friendly driver with no prejudices.

Ryo had also called Lois on her cell phone while waiting for dinner, asking the woman they made friends with on the flight to Atlanta if she had any knowledge of places that were less stressful for Carriers. He was curious, knowing her brother had just given birth and lived in the area. She assured him that downtown Atlanta was a designated Carrier-friendly zone, but there were still some older establishments that clung onto old prejudices. Her brother lived in a neighborhood on the outer fringes of Atlanta that was referred to as the "Carrier Ghetto". The gay community in Atlanta was still split on the subject of Carriers, but she explained that was slowly changing as more gay men who were Carriers started to settle down, get married and realize they wanted a family of their own, and had the means to make it happen.

Ryo was amazed at how the city seemed to be so segregated, with designated Carrier-friendly zones here and there within the city and surrounding suburban areas, and there being one or two "No Carrier" zones. New York was nothing like that. It was one big Carrier-friendly zone. Sure there were people who had problems with it, but it was a civil crime to discriminate based on Carrier-status. He realized he appreciated the city he called home more than ever, once faced with how life for Carriers were outside New York.

The flight from Atlanta to Miami was much different. Upon arriving at their gate, they noticed several other same sex couples, and two other Carriers. When they boarded the plane, they were treated as 1st class passengers should be. The Carriers and pregnant women who were in business class were among the first to board after 1st class, along with those traveling with small children. There was another gay couple flying first class. Not only how Dee and Ryo were treated, but seeing the other Carriers treated with respect and courtesy made the honeymooners very happy. They had struck up a conversation with the other couple, who were also on their honeymoon, but staying in Miami. By the time they landed in Miami, Dee and Ryo had also talked to the other two Carriers.

Ryo noticed how Dee seemed to enjoy being around the other pregnant men. He also figured after the way they were treated the day before, Dee probably thrived being with other men who were in his position. Ryo allowed the three men to commiserate about treatment at times, compared notes of pregnancy and shared the joys of being pregnant. Ryo had no problem to give up his seat and go over to chat with the husbands, giving the pregnant man freedom to talk.

In Miami, once again they met up with their driver at the baggage claim area and got into the stretch limousine. The driver was chatty, talking about his own children. They found out he had one from a previous marriage back in the days when he thought he was heterosexual, or he admitted, tried to convince himself that he was. Ryo was grateful he was saved from making that mistake thanks to Dee. The driver then went onto to explain how he had finally left his wife to be true to himself, and had two more children with his current husband. First his husband Carried, then learning he was a Carrier, the driver had their second child. The driver drove through the heart of the GBLT section of town. All was like in New York, integrated and smooth. Ryo also knew that the gay section was more like a gay downtown than a ghetto, as gays lived all over Miami.

Their hotel was not in the main GBLT area. It was a five diamond hotel on the beach and was a very popular destination with the vacationing gay and Carrier communities. It included services for pregnant Carriers. It was what appealed to them when planning out their honeymoon, and Estelle agreed, glad to see it was a five diamond hotel. It was Estelle who pointed out the hotel to them, having everything the three were looking for to make a pleasant stay for the couple.

After checking into the hotel and taking a short nap, they spent some of their day walking around, and on the beach. Dee seemed to enjoy being able to walk, being outside without worrying about being grabbed, or getting cold. He was enjoying the freedom he had taken away from him in New York City because of the Carrier killer. Walking was good for Dee, too. Ryo had decided they would do as much walking as possible without tiring out Dee or pushing it during their honeymoon. Back at the hotel, Ryo convinced Dee to get a massage before dinner. When Ryo went down to meet Dee after his hour spa treatment and massage, Dee looked completely relaxed. Both men would never trade the wedding they had for anything, once it was said and done, but it was stressful and the last week was exhausting. They were running on pure adrenaline the day of their wedding, and by the time they woke up the morning after, they would have been happy to spend the next week in the Pierre, and never come out of their room. Now Ryo was glad for the honeymoon getaway. After dinner, Dee decided to give Ryo a massage. It started off to be relaxing, before kicking it up a notch. They ended up making use of the suite, deciding that having sex only in the bedroom was becoming boring. They knew once they returned to New York, they would find themselves having bedroom sex most of time, to prevent being walked in on by Bikky. Dee and Ryo decided to make the best of their time alone while they had it.

The next morning, they dared to venture into the hotel restaurant for breakfast, after a quickie round in the shower. After breakfast, they went back to their room to get their luggage ready for to leave.

The flight to Nassau was short. Before they knew it, they were landing in Nassau International. It seemed as if they never made the standard cruising altitude before they were in descent. This time, after they retrieved their luggage, they met their driver outside. They stepped out of the terminal into the warm, slightly balmy sunny day to find a driver in a tuxedo holding a sign with their last name on it. He was sent by the resort they were staying at, as the hotel provided transportation for those who purchased a VIP package. Dee's jaw almost dropped, and his eyes were wide as they approached the silver and black Rolls Royce waiting for them among taxis and Town Cars. Knowing the guests that were to be picked up were newlyweds, the Rolls was decorated in the classic style with ribbons running from the hood ornament to each side view mirror, and had a white bow on the grill.

Laughing, Ryo took Dee's hand and lead them up to the driver.

"Mr. & Mr. Laytner-MacLean?" the dark skinned driver asked them with a friendly smile.

"That's us," Ryo said with a grin and took out his reservation paper to confirm it.

"Welcome to the Bahamas," the driver greeted, then opened the door for them to get in, and placed their luggage in the truck.

Ryo got in first, having to scoot across the car, allowing Dee to just get in the car and settle down. With a grin, Ryo watched Dee as his eyes took in all the features of the inside of the Rolls, as if they did not use a Bentley on their wedding night and then to the airport from the Wedding brunch.

As the car started to leave the airport, the driver added, "On behalf of the staff of the Royal Sands Bahamas Resort, we pledge to make your stay most enjoyable."

Ryo smiled as Dee squeezed the hand he still held. "Oh, I'm sure we will," Ryo replied and leaned over to lightly kiss Dee.

"There is champagne and sparkling grape juice for refreshments, along with a light snack," the driver told them.

Grinning, Ryo poured a glass of grape juice for Dee, while Dee filled a matching flute shaped crystal glass with champagne for Ryo. For the first sip, instead of handing the other their glass, they held out the glass in offering to sip out of. Dark eyes were fixed on deep green eyes as they drank. Ryo grabbed a scone and leaned back, breaking it in half as Dee looked on. Cuddled together in the back of the Rolls, with drinks and snack, they gazed out the windows as the car went from the airport to the resort, the newlyweds commenting on the various European styles of architecture on the island.

As they were finishing up their drinks, the Rolls turned onto the tree lined driveway that led to the main building of the resort. Dee's eyes went wide again as the car drove up to the building with a marble exterior and Doric columns, looking like something from classical Rome.

"Here we are, gentlemen," the driver said as he came to a stop. "Remember, if you want to go into town or a tour, your package includes use of the Rolls. I look forward to driving you around our beautiful island." Already there were people in motion, coming up to the car. As the driver popped open the truck, a man started to take their luggage out and place it on an ornate baggage cart. Another man was opening the door on Dee's side. A woman in a suit in the same dark blue as the men's vests and pants, with a dusty rose shirt, stood waiting, holding a clipboard, smiling at the proceeding.

Dee got out of the car, looking around. People were coming and going from taxis and limos. He still looked stunned. Ryo got out of the car after Dee, grinning and smiling at the attendants. He thought Dee was adorable. They did see photos of the resort, but being there did not compare to the photos. Ryo also found it fascinating that while Dee was still acting stunned whenever luxury was offered to him, it did not take him long to settle in comfortably among the opulence of their wedding. The more Ryo thought back to it, the more he realized that by the time they walked down the aisle to the back of the atrium, Dee acted as if it was the most natural thing to him. It was the same as they entered their reception. It was definitely amusing to Ryo, but it also spoke volumes of how Dee felt about their wedding day. Subconsciously Dee felt as if they deserved everything they had on that day. It made Ryo feel good knowing that.

The woman came up to them. "Dee and Ryo Laytner-MacLean?" she asked.

Dee smiled at her. "Yes. Can you say that again, darlin'? I'm still getting used to how great that sounds."

Ryo hugged Dee as the woman laughed. "Of course I can. Dee and Ryo Laytner-MacLean?" she asked.

"Oh yes, that is us," Dee laughed.

"Your luggage is already on it's way to your apartment. I'm Gabrielle, and I'm going to be your orientation hostess. If you'll follow me inside for your check-in. Once we're finished, I'm afraid our transportation around the resort is much less than your ride from the airport." She smiled at the two handsome men. Her eyes settled on Dee's swell that was very noticeable in his short sleeve tan and olive green silk shirt Estelle purchased for their honeymoon travel. "When are you due, Mr. Laytner-MacLean?" she asked as she lead them inside the building.

Dee's eyes did a quick swept of the interior, with marble floors and columns, the walls in brocade of cool colors with gold gilt edging. It screamed wealth and luxury. Dee knew he should be getting used to it by then, had known what the resort looked like from the photos on the internet, but he was still more than impressed. He shook himself and looked over at Gabrielle. "I'm sorry. You were asking?"

Ryo laughed. "Don't mind him. For some reason the life of luxury still overwhelms him." He rubbed Dee's back reassuringly.

"Well, I grew up in one of the poor parts of New York, in an orphanage," Dee admitted. "Just so happened the woman who adopted me was the nun who ran the orphanage, so even if I had a mother, I still had to make concessions to share with the other kids." Dee smiled charmingly at Gabrielle. "I call it coming from a very large family."

She smiled at Dee. "I would think so."

"We're due in July," Ryo answered her initial question.

"I'll bet your excited," she said.

"Very," both men said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Aw, now don't you two sound just like the cute couple you present," Gabrielle said. "Now before we go through check-in, let me make sure we have your reservations correct. You have an oceanfront apartment in Villa Bordeaux, which is the Carrier exclusive compound. It comes with a private pool, along with beachfront views from your living room. While all meals are inclusive, which we'll cover on our tour, your apartment does have a kitchenette and a very grand dining room. Dee is signed up for the Carrier Plus package in addition to your VIP package, which also includes some programs for couples. I'm sure you'll both enjoy it. Does that sound right?"

"That sounds perfect," Dee sighed happily.

"Well then, let's get you checked in and off on our tour we go."

The check-in process did not take very long. Before Ryo and Dee knew it, they were lead out of the main building through the other side, where there was an electric car waiting for them. It looked like a miniature dark blue and dusty rose taxi. Gabrielle waited until they were settled in the back before she got in behind the wheel and took them around the resort.

They had selected the Carrier complex of the resort, wanting a place where there would be others like them, and have a place to get away from stares. Both men were not naïve enough to believe that everyone at the resort would be sensitive or supportive of Carriers. They had no intention of spending the entire honeymoon in the compound, but liked the idea of having a place to escape and not have to worry about how someone might look at Dee or say something. Gabrielle explained that they had full use of all facilities in the resort, including all of the many restaurants and cafes on grounds. She reminded them again that there were no additional charges regardless of what activity they choose or where they decided to eat.

"So order up, gentlemen. It's all the same price, whether you order a salad, fish and chips, or the grilled lobster and steak meal." She glanced back, smiling at Dee. "I read your questionnaires you filled out when your reservations were made. So I need to tell you, Dee, that our Japanese restaurant has a wonderful selection of Carrier-approved sushi plates. Not raw fish, I'm afraid, but from what we've heard from guests, any Carrier who loves sushi walks away a very happy man."

"Oh good," Dee crowed happily. "I intend to spend a lot of time there."

Ryo shook his head affectionately. "My Dee and his sushi. You'd swear he was part Japanese and not me," he said with a chuckle.

"You're part Japanese?" Gabrielle asked, looking amazed.

Ryo laughed. "I tend to look more like my father, who was Scottish. But my mother was half Japanese."

"So you're the MacLean then? You look like one," she replied.

"But if you look at his eyes, you'll realize there's some Asian in him."

"You know, his eyes did strike me. And what nationality are you, Dee? Other than New York?" she asked with a grin.

"Don't know," Dee replied. "I was found as a baby with no history. But my mother is Irish, and raised me as Irish," he said with a wink. "Then I went to college in Japan, and adapted some of their culture as my own. I pick along the way, including from the neighborhoods of New York. Apparently as of Saturday, I'm also Scottish now."

"You married a Scot, you're now a Scot, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," Ryo said with a laugh.

Gabrielle continued the tour, showing them the various beaches, including an area where they could reserve a small private section for their own use for a few hours, where the various spa and gym programs were located, where games were played. By the time she pulled into Villa Bordeaux a half hour later, they had seen everything. They were told there was a portfolio with a map of the resort and a rundown of everything they had seen inside their apartment.

The compound had five two story buildings, looking like French chateaus. On one side of the compound was a wooded area for picnics close to the water. On the other side, a channel from the ocean ran along the outer sides of the buildings. Not too far away, it connected with another channel coming from the compound next to it, forming a large pool for both compounds to use. The buildings surrounded an inner garden with a fountain, gas lamps, and benches along the walkway. It looked very French provincial.

"This is beautiful," Dee exclaimed.

"It looks very restful," Ryo noted in approval.

"Oh, indeed it is. All our Villa compounds promise tranquility from the wild nightlife of our clubs and parties," Gabrielle said, pulling the car up to the corner building by the channel. "You have unit #1, which is a corner unit and the premiere apartment. It has a beautiful view of the beach. And it has a little extra than the other apartments," she added. "Come inside, gentlemen."

They got out of the car, and holding hands, followed the friendly brunette to their front door. She unlocked it, and upon entering the entryway she smiled. "And there's your luggage. I'm going to give you a quick walk through of your apartment, and then I'll leave you to settle in. I'm sure my talking has worn you out already." She led them out of the entryway.

Dee laughed. "You still can't beat me at my best," he said with a wink.

She took them through the apartment, which included the kitchenette, a large living room with wide, tall windows overlooking the beach. There was also a door on that side of the living room. It lead to a small patio and walkway around the building, and beyond the patio were stairs to go onto the beach. By the kitchenette was a small table and chairs set by a window. Another room was the dining room. They had a small bathroom with just a toilet and sink. Inside the master bedroom were more windows, looking out to the private pool. There was not much of a view of the resort because of the stone wall with flowers that enclosed the pool patio. The bathroom in the bedroom suite had a sunken Jacuzzi tub, a shower stall, the toilet in an enclosed corner, and a dressing area. In a hallway between the living room and the bedroom were stairs going up to the second floor, which was a loft for relaxing. While the rest of the apartment was decorated like a chateau in France, the loft with its wall of windows overlooking the beach and resort was more modern in décor, but just as rich. A couch, a love seat and a table were set up for viewing of the beach. On the other side of the second floor was an entertainment area including a large screen TV. On the side facing the courtyard, the upstairs had traditional French style windows, and a balcony with ornate black wrought ironwork.

Dee's jaw was almost hanging again by the time they came back down into the living room.

She handed Dee the keys, and gave Ryo another set. "If you require anything during the day, here's my card with my extension. If I'm unavailable, one of my assistants will see to your needs. You can book or reserve any of our programs through the front desks of each amenity, but it is usually best to reserve everything through me. And as much as we have to offer here, please remember to take some time to get out and about the rest of the island."

"We intend to," Ryo said, with a smile. "Thank you for everything."

"Thank you for choosing us for your honeymoon. Congratulations on your recent marriage." She smiled at Dee. "And on the little one."

"Thank you," Dee grinned. "I think we're going to enjoy our stay here very much."

"I'm glad, gentlemen. I'll see you around." She waved and left the apartment, leaving Dee and Ryo standing close to each other in the living room.

Dee pulled Ryo closer, putting his arms around the slightly shorter man's waist and kissed him.

"Do you want to take a nap?" Ryo asked, brushing Dee's bangs from his face when they broke the kiss.

"I want to lay down a bit," Dee said with a grin. "But I think I need a little incentive to be tired enough to sleep."

"Oh?" Ryo asked, coyly.

"Yeah." Dee kissed Ryo again, then holding his hand, lead him into the bedroom. "I think you're going to be needing a nap too when we're done."

"Oh, I love how you think!" Ryo exclaimed as they entered the bedroom. He closed the door behind them.

"So what do we have?" Marty asked as he entered the CI squad room. He noticed Drake and JJ, along with Ted, gathered around Drake's desk and conferring. "Good news, I hope."

Grim faces looked up to greet him.

"We have IDs," Drake replied, indicating a folder. "Jim had it waiting for us when we came in bright and early."

"The Battery Park victim was only 19," JJ remarked sullenly. "We're working on contacts and then Drake and I will hit the road. Without Dee and Ryo around to break the news to families, it's on Drake and me." He let out a heavy sigh.

Marty picked up the folder to peruse the contents. "Brent Carmichael, huh?" He glanced up at the others after reading on a bit. "The ME believes he's been dead for at least five days before he was found?" he asked.

Ted nodded. "Yeah. We may have a problem with Carriers from around here showing up dead, but this one could have come from anywhere along the Hudson's currents. Including New Jersey."

"His last known address was in Staten Island," Marty pointed out, reading the file again.

Drake nodded. "Unfortunately the current doesn't run from Staten Island. We're going over there in a bit. If we can't get contact names before we leave, we'll see if there's anyone still there who knows him."

"And our other vic?"

"We're suspecting from out of town," Drake said. "He doesn't fit the two missing persons we have on file."

"Carmichael wasn't one either, was he?" Marty asked.

"No," JJ stated, looking annoyed. "He's been dead for a week, and who knows how long before that he was missing. 19 years old, and no one cared to file a missing person."

Drake sighed. "For all we know, he hasn't lived at home for a while, JJ. We went over this already. But we'll find out what's going on soon enough. Okay?"

JJ just nodded his head and sat down at his desk, going over the paperwork on his desk.

Marty looked grim as he said, "I hate to point out that we still have two more potential victims."

"Hopefully not," Drake sighed. "I'm hoping that there are good reasons why they went missing. Like getting away from a bad situation or eloping out of state, or who knows what, as long as they're still alive."

"I hope so too," Marty agreed, but he felt within that it was hard to believe that. He suspected Drake was having the same problem.

Jim entered the office, knocking on the open door as he passed it. "Yo dudes, here's your contact info." He tossed a folder on Drake's desk. "And apparently our Corona victim is also a resident of New York City. Brooklyn, to be exact."

Drake picked it up and read. "Well, seems we do have someone still living in Staten Island." He glanced over at JJ. "Parents. And a husband for Doug Santiago." Softly he swore under his breath. They had to find the killer, because this had to stop. The murders were more tragic than usual because of the unborn babies that would never have a chance to live.

Ted and Marty exchanged glances, and they nodded. "Hey Drake," Ted stated. "Since you'll be busy in Staten Island, how about Marty and I handle the Corona one? We can get this out of the way today then. We'll even canvas the area while we're there and follow any other trails."

Drake gave Ted a grateful look. "I think that sounds like a plan. We'll need to be back here by 3. The Commissioner is hoping to have an update on if and how the FBI will be involved."

Ted nodded, and watched as Marty wrote down the information they needed in his notebook. Marty placed the notebook in his jacket pocket and waved to everyone. "C'mon, Teddy-boy, and let's check out a car."

"Gotcha. Later."

Drake watched the two men leave and looked over to JJ. "I guess we should be heading out too."

JJ nodded, and stood up, going over to get his coat.

Drake understood JJ's silence. Suddenly it felt as if they were racing against time, with Dee's life on the line. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. If nothing else, he dreaded Dee's return from his honeymoon if things were still as they were. He was also more than a little worried about how Ryo was going to handle the news. He continued to hope that the little discovery on the Corona victim would remain out of the press, should Dee or Ryo feel inclined to read up on news from home while they were in the Caribbean.

Drake and JJ sat in the car outside the colonial style home, with the meticulously trimmed shrubs surrounding the front lawn that was still sleeping from winter frost, and strips for flower beds come the warmer weather edging each side of the driveway leading to the garage. There was a BMW parked in the driveway. From all indications from the outside, it was a nice home in what seemed like the rural part of New York City. There was most likely a nice family inside, unaware of the news the two detectives were about to give them.

"I hate this part of the job," Drake said with a sigh, unlocking the car doors.

"Yeah, me too." JJ glanced over at Drake. "Somehow it seems more difficult than the other times."

"I know what you mean. I had to deliver news like this about Carriers before, but it was a random crime, an accident. Not that they were killed because they were a Carrier. Just another victim among the statistics."

JJ stared out the window at the nice medium sized home and nodded.

Drake rubbed JJ's shoulder. "C'mon and let's get this over with. We're hoping we still have a few more places to visit and maybe get some clues."

"What makes you think this is going to be different?" JJ asked quietly. "Just because we want him captured before Dee and Ryo get back doesn't mean it's going to happen. Chances are it's not."

"Don't talk like that JJ. We need to keep a positive, can do attitude about this, if we're going to catch him," Drake said gently. "Besides, we have to catch a break at some point. He increased the number of victims, therefore he's bound to get sloppy. He's probably also getting pissed off because the Commissioner hasn't released any news about letting Dee go. I'm hoping that will cause him to make a mistake somewhere."

JJ nodded again, only to appease Drake. They were running on the assumption that their killer was a male because of the victim they found in Corona Park. It was a snowy morning and quite a walk through unpaved ground to the grove of trees the victim was placed. There were no signs of the body being dragged. Their victim, in his 7th month of pregnancy, weighed around 175 lbs. While it was still possible, the chances of a woman being able to carry that much weigh, especially after rigor mortis set in, without dragging, was not very likely. If it was a woman doing the killing, then most likely she had an accomplish. From what they were able to gather so far, all were in agreement they were on the lookout for a male.

JJ opened the door and got out of the car without a word. Drake followed suit, aware of being watched from across the street. Neighbors had noticed the strange car that had been parked in front of the house for at least five minutes and now were curious. Unlike the rest of New York City, Staten Island had a small town feeling. Especially in a neighborhood called Tottenville on the furthest end of Staten Island.

A woman opened the door to another well kept home across the street and watched the two detectives make their way to the front door.

JJ rang the bell and waited for someone to answer. He wanted to take Drake's hand in his, get some comfort from his boyfriend, but did not dare.

The door opened and a kindly looking woman, who appeared to not be 40 yet answered the door. She had shoulder length brown hair in a stylish cut and held in place with plenty of hairspray. She was about JJ's height.

"I'm sorry, but we don't need any today," she stated, taking them for door to door salesmen. The days of salesmen knocking on the door, selling house wares were long gone, replaced by people who wanted contracts for services such as satellite TV, wireless phones and satellite radio.

JJ showed her his badge. "Mrs. Carmichael? We're with the 27th Precinct in Manhattan."

"You're cops?" she asked. "From Manhattan. What did Brent get himself into now?" she asked, looking partly worried, partly annoyed.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Detective Drake Parker, and this is my partner, Detective JJ Adams. May we come in, Mrs. Carmichael?" Drake asked.

The woman stepped aside, opening the door for them. "I told Brent it was going to be hard surviving on his own, and wondered what he would do for money. He had a bit of a habit of lifting things when he was a teen. I was afraid he'd end up doing the same trying to live on his own," the woman talked on, allowing Drake and JJ to enter the house. "So what did he do now?" she asked.

"Mrs. Carmichael," Drake said gently. "Please sit down. I'm afraid we have bad news."

Irene Carmichael glanced at the grim faces before her. "Oh no…" She put a hand to her mouth. "Please tell me what he did. No wait. Joe," she called out toward the kitchen. "Come here. Quick"

A man in a sports shirt and Dockers , looking a little older than Irene, came into the living room. "What's this all about?" he asked. "Cindy from across the street called saying there were strangers in a car, looking at our house. I take it that would be you fellas?"

JJ nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Joe, Brent has gone and got himself into trouble again," Irene stated, going over to her husband. "They are detectives from Manhattan."

Joe Carmichael shook his head in annoyance. "I don't know what got into that boy. Ever since he hit his teens, he was a handful. And then when he came home announcing he was having a baby! A baby!" He glanced at Drake and JJ, not giving either detective a chance to cut in. "Like a man has a right to be giving birth. That's a woman's job. And my dear Irene agrees with me."

JJ's mouth was set in a line, not daring to say anything, for fear he'd say a few things that could get him in trouble.

"Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, please," Drake firmly said, trying to gain some control of situation, aware of JJ's sudden demeanor. "It's more serious than that."

"How much more serious can it be than your son who doesn't like to pay for what he wants suddenly coming home and expecting us to raise his child?" Joseph Carmichael asked. "That boy had some nerve wanting to bring one of those monsters in this world."

"Brent is dead," JJ snapped loudly.

The room went silent. Drake stared at JJ in concern. JJ was glaring at the Carmichaels with disgust. Joseph and Irene Carmichael were still, digesting the fact that their son was dead.

Irene covered her mouth again, burying her face in her husband's arm, quietly weeping.

With an arm around his wife, Joe glared at the detectives. "Are you absolutely sure it was our son?" he asked sternly.

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Carmichael," Drake stated.

"What happened? Did that monster kill him?"

JJ's jaw was clenched and his hands balled into fists. "If you are referring to whomever killed him, yes, I see your son's murderer as a monster. Anyone who would kill a man merely because he's having a baby is a monster." JJ's tone was clipped. He had trouble keeping it even and not to start screaming at the parents. He found some small satisfaction that he noted some grief from them, despite everything they felt about the baby.

"He was killed?" Joe asked.

Irene started to openly sob.

"I'm sorry, but yes he was. His body was found in the south cove in Battery Park City."

"Was he still carrying that… that thing when he was found?" Joe asked.

JJ frowned. "No, he wasn't. But that's only because whomever killed him, removed the fetus. He most probably died from bleeding out from that."

"JJ," Drake warned, taking JJ by his arm and pulling him back from the Carmichaels a few feet. He looked over to the parents. "I'm afraid we don't share your views on Carriers. It's even harder for us, because your son is the latest victim of the Carrier serial killer that's been striking around the city."

"Where do you have him?" Joe asked.

"He's in the county morgue in Bellevue Hospital. While we're certain that it's your son, you'll have to go and identify him, of course, so they can release the body to your custody."

Irene Carmichael dropped heavily in a nearby chair. "No. That can't be my son," she moaned in denial. "I told him he couldn't live here any longer if he didn't get rid of that baby, but that doesn't mean I don't love him. I was hoping he'd get an abortion and stay here. That one day he'd come back without that creature, and live with us again. He was a handful since he hit his teens, but he's still my son. I love him. Please tell me this isn't true."

JJ went to open his mouth again, but Drake saw enough on his partner's face to know it was not words of comfort. "I'm afraid it is true. Would you like us to take you?"

Joe shook his head firmly. "No. I can get us there."

Drake nodded. "I know this isn't a good time, but we still have some questions. We do want to find the person who did this."

"What type of questions?" Joe asked, as his wife sat and cried. "We just told him to leave the house. No one wanted him dead. My wife and I were hoping that he'd come to his senses after he had that creature, give it away or drop it off at a safe house, then come home. He wasn't a bad boy since he entered college. Except he started to sleep around with men, then got himself knocked up. It wasn't an easy time while he was still living here."

"Mr. Carmichael," Drake cut in, "when was the last time you saw Brent?"

"Two months ago. He made his choice and we told him to leave."

"Choice?"

"From the day he came home and told us he was having that creature, we told him if he wanted to remain at home, to get an abortion," Joe explained with no hesitation. "We gave him chances. Right up to his fifth month, we did. Then it was too late. No doctor in his right mind would do an abortion. We gave him all that time. He made his choice. So we made him leave. He was welcome back here at anytime. Without that monster."

JJ spun on his heels and stormed for the door without saying a word.

Drake sighed. "Mr. Carmichael, I can assure you that a Carrier child is not a monster. And there are enough men in this world who carry child not to make them freaks. I would appreciate it if you kept those opinions to yourself."

"Don't tell me that little detective is having one of those things too?" he asked.

"No. Not now, but I know he would like to one day. However, one of the detectives in our unit, in fact, one of our leading detectives, is pregnant."

"And he's still allowed to work? What kind of police force do we have?" Joe asked, disgusted.

"One that isn't blind sighted with prejudice. One that believes in equality for all," Drake answered. "Let me ask you something, Mr. Carmichael. The Carrier gene is inherited. Who gave Brent the gene?"

"That would be me," Joe remarked. "Not that I had a choice in it, being my mother passed it down to me. We almost didn't have children because of me, but Irene wanted to have a child badly. So we had Brent. The way that people should have children – through the woman. Our son could have slept with whoever he wanted. All we asked him was to use protection if he was going to put himself in that position. But then he thought he fell in love with that one boy. He told us after we came out of our shock that he did it because he believed that bastard would stop sleeping around with others and settle down with him, have a family, and everything like that. I thought we raised Brent better than that. I don't expect a woman to play that game on a man, I most certainly disapprove of a man doing that. So our son was knocked up and had a lover who wanted nothing to do with him or the… baby. That's when things got rough here. Goddammit! If he had listened to us and got rid of that monster, he'd still be alive!" Joe swung his fist in the air.

Drake sighed. One thing he could not refute. The Carmichaels loved their son, and were hurting. He just had problems with how they showed their love. "Would you mind giving us the name of the other father?"

"No, of course not. I never did like that one anyway. But my boy had to get this notion that he couldn't live without him. Brent biggest fault, even during his shop lifting, drug taking teens was he was attracted to the wrong people for friends."

"It would be helpful if you provided us with any other names you would know."

"Of course," Joe stated. "Can we do this in the kitchen, please?" He turned to his wife, who was still crying over her son and carefully pulled her up from the couch. "Irene, why don't you go in the bedroom for now. I'll handle this, and then we'll go and…." he left his words hanging, not sure what else to say. He guided his wife to the hall where the stairs to the second floor was located, then gestured for Drake to follow him into the kitchen.

JJ needed to get out of there. There was no way he was going to remain professional, when all he wanted to do was throttle both of them. It didn't matter if Irene Carmichael was obviously upset over her son's death. The thought that she had also insisted that her son abort a baby was appalling to JJ. No one had the right of a say in that matter, except the one having the child. To think that he was asked to leave home because he refused to get rid of his child was enough to make JJ see red.

As far as he was concerned, the Carmichaels were the monsters. He hoped they would find themselves with plenty of regrets over that decision now that their son was dead. He also wished for an extra helping of guilt to come their way.

After he managed to get a few deep breaths, and clear his head of his anger enough to think, JJ did not remain idle. He went off to canvas the street, feeling only a little guilty that he left Drake inside alone. Thank goodness Dee and Ryo were on their honeymoon, he thought. Because otherwise, it would have been their job to come here, just as they went to the next of kin of their other victims. Dee would have been livid, and Ryo… JJ shuddered. He did not want to think of what Ryo would have done. Ever since he stepped into the light about his relationship with Dee, counted down the days to their wedding, and looked forward to raising their baby with Dee, Ryo proved to have a very short fuse when confronted on issues concerning homophobia and anti-Carrier feelings. Dee handled it like he handled everything else in life when it dealt a blow in his direction. He got mad sometimes, always let it roll off his thick skin, then pick up and carry on from there. Ryo was yet to learn how to handle things that way. Or perhaps Ryo was not one to let it roll off him. He might end up being one of those who would shout the loudest, "We're here, we're queer, and we're pregnant. So fuck you." JJ actually found himself smiling as he went between houses, when the thought came to him. Ironic that the one with the biggest mouth and liked to carry a big stick over Gay and Carrier Rights would be Ryo. JJ actually thought it kind of fitting. He decided there was nothing wrong with it, and he'd back Ryo all the way – while also stopping Ryo from doing something stupid that he'd regret, or would hurt him and Dee.

By the time Drake left the normal looking house with the monsters living within, JJ had spoken to several of the neighbors. He had names and descriptions of people they saw associated to Brent. It was not an easy job, he discovered after the 4th house, since apparently Tottenville was unofficially a non-Carrier zone within New York City.

He saw Drake come over to him, and somehow they finished going to all the houses, before they got into the car and went off for the park Brent was known to hang out in. They passed by the house on the way back to Manhattan and noticed the BMW was gone from the driveway.

Neither man mentioned anything about the hatred they encountered. Drake did not bring up JJ's fit inside the Carmichael home. They hardly said anything if it were not facts they had gathered about Brent and his lifestyle.

It was only when they were halfway across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, going into Brooklyn, did Drake speak. "Hey JJ, would you like to come over to my place after work tonight?"

JJ leaned toward Drake and nodded. "Please? I don't think I can handle being alone tonight."

"Neither can I," Drake agreed.

Ted and Marty had left Bobby Santiago's grieving husband with his sister. Doug Santiago had called his sister, who lived on the top floor of the two family home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She came down immediately and looked as devastated as Bobby upon hearing the news of his brother-in-law.

Ted closed the door to the unmarked car after the two detectives talked to neighbors. "That was not fun," he announced to Marty, who was about to start the car.

"Tell me about it. Bobby wanted kids, but was not a Carrier. Convinced Doug, who was to finally get pregnant, and now Doug's dead." Marty sighed. "That poor man is already guilt-tripping over insisting that Doug got pregnant."

"Yeah, huh? And wouldn't you know it. Doug was finally starting to become at ease about his pregnancy. And now this." Ted hit his fist against the dashboard. "This just sucks, man. I just hope we finally got a lead."

"I would like to look into that online buddy support system that Santiago talked about," Marty mused. "Sounds fishy to me. I mean, talking to Dee, his OB medical clinic provided him with plenty of resources for group and one-on-one support to deal with Carrier pregnancy. I find it hard to believe Dee lucked out with the only medical group in NYC with such a network of coverage."

"I guess we'll find out after we visit Doug's MOP, which I believe we have time to do next," Ted stated. "And while you're driving, I'm going to dig around and see what I can pull up about this supposed Carrier support group Doug got himself involved with."

"Good idea." Marty glanced at his notes to remind himself of the address to Doug Santiago's MOP.

"I think it's probably a good idea to go back to that Carrier store and look around. See if anyone else can recall the man who recruited Doug to join their group. I can't shake a bad feeling about that," Ted said, opening his laptop.

"I agree. After we speak to the MOP, we'll see if JJ and Drake have time to meet for lunch and compare notes," Marty said.

"I'm all for the lunch part," Ted nodded, half his attention on his laptop. "Please God, give us a break with this case already."

"I'm not sure which one worries me more right now," Marty said. "Dee coming back to find out our killer wants him off the force, but Rose is not hearing any of it. Or come Saturday or Sunday, we're looking at possibly three new potential victims."

Ted sighed heavily. "And Dee's reaction dealing with the new victims. I know Dee likes to play off being the tough guy, but there's a reason he's a detective. And to have that bastard place the blame on Dee for any new victims. Hell, I know Dee is going to take it just like that too. That it's his fault that people died. It won't fare well with him, I'll tell you that. Especially when he gets into his 'I'm useless' moods."

Marty smirked. "You know what's scary, dude? I can almost feel sorry for the son-of-a-bitch should Ryo get close to him."

Ted laughed. "Oh God. Scary thought for sure. Don't mess with Ryo's family. Okay, I'm getting one single simple page here with a disturbing image for this group."

"Define disturbing," Marty asked as he stopped the car at a light. Ted turned the laptop around so Marty could see the illustration of a very pregnant Carrier surrounded by angels. "I didn't feel good about the name Carriers Inc to start with. Sounds like a set up for something we'll end up investigating at some point."

"I know. So you agree with me about this image?"

"A Carrier being beckoned by angels. Oh hell yeah. Drake and JJ will be interested in this. What's the contact information?"

"Just an email address. Too simple if you ask me. We'll have to discuss it with the others before poking around and inquiring using it." Ted shook his head. The email address was contact . "Dude, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I can't help but think we finally have a solid clue. I'm going to look into domain registration and see what we get."

"Great idea, Ted. And we're almost here," Marty remarked as he turned right from Nassau Avenue, onto Eckford Street. "Once I turn onto Norman Avenue, keep an eye out for the address."

"Gotcha," Ted said, emailing the domain information he gathered to his email at work. "I got an address, by the way. In New Jersey."

Marty rolled his eyes. "Great. Good thing we're hopefully collaborating with the FBI. I have a feeling we're going to need it if we're going to keep running around outside our jurisdiction."

"Yeah, huh?" Ted's eyes started to look at numbers on buildings when Marty turned left. "Even numbers are on your side, dude. And there it is."

"Great. Now to find parking around here. Hell, someone call traffic and get these idiots parked in the no parking zones ticketed," he grumped.

"Be thankful it's not like some of the streets I noticed as we passed where there's double parking," Ted said. "Make another right at the corner and see if there's something there. We can always hoof it for a block or two."

"Whatever," Marty mumbled, realizing he was approaching the intersection, and followed Ted's advice.


	31. New Faces

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 31 – New Faces

Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**March 13, 2006**

"So can you tell me how many times Brent came to you after you broke up?" Drake asked Peter Kane. Drake and JJ were in the college student's dorm room at New York University.

Peter shrugged. The last thing he expected to come back to his room for lunch was to two detectives waiting to speak to him.

JJ stood across the room from where Drake and Peter were seated, facing each other.

"I don't know," Peter replied. "Every so many days or so. At least once a week. He had it in his mind that I was the other father and that we were going to get an apartment together."

"Meanwhile you had other plans, huh?" Drake commented, as JJ wrote in his notepad.

"Oh hell yeah. For one thing, I told him right from the start that I didn't love him. What we did was for fun and nothing more. He was convinced I would change my mind because of a baby," Peter snorted.

"What else?" JJ prompted him.

"Who knows who's baby that was. He slept around a lot, and not just with me. So it's anyone's guess who the other father was. I told him that too. Several times. He would get all upset and stuff, threaten to hurt himself. He was crazy, I tell you."

Drake nodded. "I see. So when was the last time you saw Brent?"

"About two weeks ago."

"Did you reject him again?" Drake asked.

"Yeah. It was late at night. He was going on about how it was my last chance."

JJ raised an eyebrow. "How interesting," he commented.

"Well, he said he was going to meet someone who offered to take him in, but lived out of town." Peter shrugged. "I don't know. For all I know, Brent could have told that other guy the baby was his and the idiot believed him."

"Do you know who the guy was? Or where he lived?" Drake asked.

"Brent never told me. He just said he was giving me a last chance before taking another offer."

JJ frowned, pausing from his note taking. "Don't get me wrong, Mr. Kane, but do you even feel a twinge of guilt?"

Peter shook his head as he looked over at JJ, and met the smaller detective's cool gaze. "Sorry, but no. I'm sorry to hear that Brent is dead, but I don't miss him, nor do I blame myself for his getting killed. He created the situation he was in. Not me. And before you go into the 'it takes two' routine, Detective Adams, I'm not even sure that baby was mine."

"Sometimes you can't help who you love," JJ retorted. "And it takes a lot more than the object of affection's rejection to make you move on."

"You seem to speak from experience, Detective," Peter commented, steel gray eyes fixed on the short detective.

JJ blushed ever so slightly as he nodded. "Well, for me, it turned out to be more an infatuation than love. Not that you could have convinced me otherwise until I discovered the person I did truly love."

"I'll bet you didn't go around 'infatuated' with everyone just so you could move out of your parents' house to play house with someone either," Peter stated.

"Is that what Brent would do?" Drake asked.

"His parents weren't thrilled with his being gay, so he got it in his head to move out. One thing that amazes me is that all the guys he slept with were richer than he is. He was just wanting a big fancy place to live in and sugar daddy to take care of him. Like I said, he obviously found a sucker. He hated to work, you know. He wanted everything given to him."

Drake and JJ shared a cautious look before Drake asked, "Do you know where Brent was living?"

"With his parents in Staten Island."

Drake shook his head. "His parents said he emptied his room when he moved out two months ago."

"He sure couldn't afford to live on his own," Peter replied with a condescending sneer. "He quit his job at Starbucks the day after he found out he was knocked up. 'Cause you know, he was pregnant." He gave Drake and JJ a look conveying he did not believe that should be an excuse. "He expected to be catered to. I heard his parents gave him a lot of woe when they refused to do that. But they still let him stay at home, with no job and provided for him. But to him, his parents were horrible people because they made him do chores around the house. He said sometimes they'd make him do things more than what someone pregnant should be doing. He'd show up here, first whining about them, then beg me to take care of him and the baby. Then after I refused, he'd sometimes ask if he could stay over for the night. Again, I told him no. I didn't want to risk him making more of it."

"Do you know the names of any of those other guys?" JJ asked.

"Don't know, don't care. I never asked him. All I knew is that he couldn't pin the baby on me, because I wasn't the only one he was screwing around with."

Drake glanced over at JJ, who nodded. He took out his wallet and removed a business card. Handing it to Peter, he said, "You've been very helpful, Peter. Give me a call if you remember anything else that you think would help us. Especially if you hear any names of the others."

"Will do, Detective Parker," Peter said, taking the card. He remained sitting when Drake stood up. He watched the two detectives leave his dorm room.

Down the hallway, by the elevator, Drake and JJ turned and looked at each other.

"Nah," Drake remarked, pushing the button for the elevator.

"No way," JJ agreed. "I find it hard to believe that a 21 year old NYU music major is our bad guy."

"Yeah. But I still want to keep an eye on him, you know."

"Yup. I know. Me too." As they got into the elevator, he added, "Didn't Ted and Marty mention something about meeting up for lunch?"

"That was before we decided to hit up Peter during lunch," Drake said.

"Well, it's still lunchtime for us. We might as well give them a call, then ask if they still need to eat."

"Yeah. Might as well."

Silently they left the building and walked the few blocks to where they had managed to find parking. It was a no parking zone for normal citizens, but the placard in their unmarked car gave them the right to park there.

Inside the car, Drake started it up.

"I think we need to come back and see who else we could speak to," JJ stated as he put on his seat belt.

"My thoughts exactly. But let's give Peter the impression that we're finished snooping around," Drake said, turning on the blinker and looking in the rear view mirror, looking for a chance to start to pull out of the parking space.

JJ nearly jumped when there was a sudden rap at his window. "What?" he asked and noticed the girl. He rolled down the window a little. "May we help you, ma'am?"

"I might be able to help you, but I don't want anyone to have seen me speaking to you. I'm Kira Albrighton. I went to class with Brent. H-he was one of my friends."

Drake quickly pushed the button to unlock the back door. "Get in," he stated.

"Thank you," Kira said, slipping into the back seat and putting on her seatbelt.

"Do you mind if we head back to the precinct?" Drake asked as he pulled the car into the flow of traffic.

"No, not at all. It's better. That way no one would see us talking together."

JJ glanced back at the pretty college student with long black hair with red highlights and green eyes. "I'm JJ Adams, and this is my partner, Drake Parker," he introduced.

Drake waved, holding the radio in his hand as he called in their unit, stating they were returning to the precinct house, and requesting that Ted or Marty contact them.

JJ smiled kindly at the young girl. "Don't you feel the least bit uncomfortable riding in the backseat of a police car?"

She smiled back at JJ. "No, not one like this. It doesn't look like one. Besides, I used to get rides home from school in one of those cruisers with the wire partition and all." At JJ's inquiring look, she added, "My daddy was a sheriff back in Wisconsin. He's a deputy chief now."

"Oh. That explains it." JJ paused when Drake's cell phone rang. "Anyway, I take it you know why we were there?"

Kira nodded. "Because of Brent."

"How did you know? We haven't released anything yet."

Kira shrugged. "You both looked like detectives when I was going back to my room. I noticed you went into Peter's room, so I thought it had to do with Brent. So, I…" Kira dropped her head and blushed a little. "I put my ear to the door and caught pieces of your conversation."

JJ looked at the girl in amazement. "May I ask what your major is?"

Kira smiled at JJ. "Criminal justice. I want to be like my daddy, but in a big city."

"It's going to be a long road here in New York City, Kira," JJ felt he had to warn.

"I know. Daddy said that too. But I figure if I decide to go work for another city, having some experience in a city like New York, plus classes in NYU would account for something." She looked at JJ. "I have to at least try. If nothing else, I'd be happy to be a cop."

"Well, good luck then, young lady," JJ said.

"Kira, I hope you like Chinese food, because our partners said they're meeting us back at the barn with Chinese for lunch," Drake said, putting his phone away. "They're bringing some extra for you."

"I'm not that hungry, Detective Parker, but maybe an egg roll?" she stated.

"Great. Look, let's hold off whatever you want to tell us until we can get there. Okay?" Drake stated.

"Sure."

On the ride to the 27th, they made small talk. Kira told them of her impression of coming to live in a city like New York after living in a small town in Wisconsin.

"Now that was interesting," Ted mused after Kira left the precinct. She had insisted that she could get back herself, but the detectives set her up with fare for a cab. JJ went down with her and came back after the cab went out of sight.

The four detectives were sitting in the CI squad room, musing over what the young college student told them.

"I still don't think Peter is our killer," Drake stated. "But I'm willing to put down a week's pay that he has something to do with Brent's disappearance."

The other detectives nodded in agreement. Ted looked over JJ's notes from their interview with the art student. "Seems some things Kira had to say goes against what Peter said."

"But to prove who is telling the truth," Marty sighed.

"There was just something I didn't like about Peter," JJ remarked, sitting at his desk. "Mind you, this was after getting pissed off about how Brent's parents and neighbors felt about Carriers and their children. Peter was the one I felt most uncomfortable around. You know that quiet calm. The fact that he hit both Brent and Kira fits into the profile I was thinking while speaking to him."

"I believe Kira," Drake stated to Marty. He looked at his watch. "And as soon as we hear what the Commissioner has to say, I want you and Ted to go to her dorm and get whatever possessions of Brent's that she has. She understands if there's something she wants to keep, we'll give it back when we're done with it."

Marty nodded.

"We've got a long night ahead of us," Drake stated. "We need to speak to everyone we managed to get a list of between both of our latest victims. And no one is going home until we do."

Ted sighed. "Can the fives wait until the morning?" he asked.

Drake shook his head. "I'm afraid not. 'Cause first thing tomorrow morning, you and Marty are going to check out that address the website is registered to."

"I'm not surprised. I knew this was coming," Ted groaned.

"But just check it out. Don't do anything else. Stay there a while, check out activity and then get back here," JJ added.

"Even if we see suspicious movement?" Marty asked.

"Well then, you know what to do."

"Call it in to you and you'll work with the local police for warrants. Yeah, but what if it's too late by then?" Ted asked.

"What if you think it's suspicious and go charging in and there's no evidence?" JJ asked.

Ted knew that, but he had to ask. He banged his fist on his desk in frustration. "Goddammit!"

The door opened during Ted's mini-tirade. The detectives looked up to find Berkeley Rose enter, along with Diana and another man.

"Gentlemen, I see things are moving as usual with this case," Rose commented dryly.

"We have some leads, but freakin' red tape is frustrating," Ted stated, his eyes flickering to the man who was about Dee's height.

"That's good to hear," Rose stated, closing the door behind them. "About the leads. We'll see what we could work out about the red tape, if need. Gentlemen, this is probably good news and bad news wrapped in one, but I want you to meet Special Agent Dominic Romano. He's going to be working with Diana on this case. The FBI agreed they need to step in."

The men of CI waved to Dominic. "Pleasure to meet you," JJ stated politely.

"Welcome to the jungle, Agent Romano," Drake remarked, then started to put their paperwork in order.

"Call me Dom, please," he said. "I know FBI and police usually mix like vinegar and oil, but I'm hoping we can avoid that as we're all in agreement that these Carrier crimes are an atrocity to not only Carriers and their unborn children, but to the human race. Whether some of them will admit it or not."

Rose introduced the men of CI to Dominic. "As mentioned before, Dee and Ryo Laytner-MacLean are currently on their honeymoon." He looked at his detectives. "Now here me out completely before jumping in."

The four men gazed at the Commissioner in curiosity, wondering what their superior was about to say that they would not like. Otherwise he would not have warned them to allow him to finish speaking.

"First off, no one is taking this case from you. This operation will be a joint effort between the NYPD and the FBI. Meaning, more precisely, the CI unit here at the 2-7, and the FBI agents assigned to the case. That would be Dominic and Diana." He paused as heads nodded. "Secondly, as of now, any other cases you are currently working on will be redistributed to another unit. From this point on, until further notice, CI is now a specialized unit dealing with Carrier hate crimes. That will include everything that is called in through 911. It will also include all missing persons that are Carriers within the city and surrounding areas. While taking action against other types of hate crimes against Carriers, we are also hoping it will also give us more leads to find our killer. Detectives Parker and Adams will remain the catching detectives for this case."

Ted raised his hand. "Sir? While that all sounds great and wonderful, and so much work, what makes us more qualified? I mean, except for JJ, the rest of us are heterosexual men who have no intention of Carrying children, if we were Carriers. Which we don't know if we are, since there was no reason to take the test."

Rose nodded. "You're afraid of that very same question being tossed back at you by victims?"

"Yes sir. Not that I'm not willing to help however I can. But it's frustrating when your victim doesn't trust you more than usual," Ted replied.

Rose smiled. "Now here is the part I need everyone to not jump up, protesting. While talking over the needs of this unit in its new incarnation, some initial decisions made between Chief Smith and myself have been recinded."

The CI detectives all traded glances.

"We have JJ, who we have found out is a Carrier, even if he never had children yet. But would like to one day," Rose explained. "We have Dom, who has just returned to duty after baby leave." Rose looked at the Special Agent.

"Yeah. Four months ago I gave birth to my 3rd, and I believe last, since we finally had a boy," Dom explained.

Rose saw the looks on his men's faces and knew what they were thinking. Exactly why he had warned them to listen before they react. "At first, we thought Dee and Ryo would be too close emotionally to be on the case, but in light of the needs of this new unit, that is no longer the case. We need them active in working with violated Carriers. And I do believe it would give Dee more of a job than just pushing papers and quickly becoming the computer geek of CI." He winked in amusement. Dee was good at computers, but in the last few months, he had learned more, catching on quickly and proving more than just adept at them. "Seems you have company on that, Ted," he stated with a smirk while the others laughed.

The laughter broke the tension in the office.

"This unit will remain working Carrier Hate Crimes until it is determined there is no further need. Or until the funding runs out. It's experimental and one of a kind at the moment. Much like how the 6th started a unit to investigate hate crimes against the GBLT community way back when. So when Dee and Ryo return from their honeymoon, they have their work cut out for them. And if we're still on the hunt for our killer, they will also be officially back on the case. Everyone in this unit will work together on all cases, just like before, each case having a catching detective," Rose continued to explain. "Dee and Ryo are still the leading detectives of the unit."

Drake let out a sigh of relief. That meant that Dee and Ryo would be the ones responsible for reporting, and having the most paperwork.

Diana smiled at everyone. "Now don't you all look thrilled," she commented with a chuckle.

"Can it, Diana," JJ stated. "Yes, it sounds great. I think it will look good for the NYPD to have such a unit. And I'm proud I'm part of it. But it's still going to mean a lot of paperwork. Hell, it's going to mean a lot of work."

"Think of the overtime pay," Marty laughed, attempting to look on the bright side of working long hours and once again finding themselves overwhelmed with cases.

In the last few years, crime within the 27th precinct area dropped steadily. In the last year, it provided ample opportunity to work cold cases and hope to finally bring justice to a case that never had closure. However, at times, it would be slow, and hours going by slowly because of that. Without warning, their pace picked up again, because of the Carrier killer, and now it would pick up again back to what it was back when those who had been there longer first became detectives. Most of the Carrier hate crimes had previously gone to the hate crime unit, unless there were other reasons to pull in detectives from other units. No one was sure if the cases were looked at seriously, or were closed out as tactfully as they could.

"Now, one more thing. Two, actually. Right now we're working with two men out. Once Dee and Ryo get back, Dee will still have a reduced work load and it will continue to be reduced, the closer he gets to going full term. Then for at least two months, we are going to be operating minus Dee and Ryo. Dee might take more time, depending on his recovery and other post-delivery instances. And so on," Rose stated. "So it was decided that this unit will be increased by two more. I have the newbies waiting in the hall. So everyone make them welcome. Please."

Diana went to the door and opened it. "You may come in now."

The two new detectives entered the squad room, along with Chief Smith, who was giving them the welcome speech while they waited.

"Gentlemen, this is Andy Rozinksky and Dana Johnsen," Chief Smith introduced. He went around the room, introducing the CI detectives.

"Andy is truly a rookie. He just came from CSU. Dana just received her gold shield two months ago and was looking for reassignment from the 9-4 in Brooklyn. They were to go into the detective pool here at the 2-7 as floaters, but then this came up. Turns out that Dana's husband is a Carrier, and as she cannot have children, he is having their first child. Andy is also a Carrier, with one child," Chief stated.

Rose looked around at the other men. "Ted, Drake and Marty, while you're not Carriers, you have displayed nothing but support to Dee, and have given 110 percent to this case, finding yourself as sick and disgusted as Dee, Ryo and JJ get. There is no reason to believe that everyone in this unit is not qualified to handle offensives against Carriers, while continue to find our perp. I believe in everyone."

The men of CI looked uncomfortable, yet pleased. They stood up to start shaking hands of the newcomers, welcoming them to the new unit.

Diana cleared her throat. "Oh, before I forget, from what I understand, Dee and Dana will take on the bulk of initial responses. Dee will also have additional duties of creating a survivor support network."

Everyone looked surprised.

Rose nodded. "I received an email from Dee this morning, proposing the idea. Apparently he spend plenty of his idle time on the issue in the last few weeks and what I received was indeed a proposal that I was able to submit during our planning meeting today. I emailed him and Ryo with the changes going on around here as of today, and informing Dee he has the go ahead when they return. I hope with that, he will now put his mind singularly on his honeymoon, and enjoy being pampered while he has the chance."

"If he doesn't, I'll call him and give him a piece of my mind," JJ huffed. "He's on his honeymoon, for goodness sake!" He laughed, the others joining in.

Drake called attention of everyone in the room. "Marty and Ted are due to head out and collect some of Brent's possessions from a friend." He looked at the Commissioner and Chief, who both nodded their heads. Ted and Marty gathered their belongings and headed out.

JJ went to get everyone tea and coffee, while Drake settled the three new faces and started to go over what they had on the case. Diana sat down, also listening and taking notes.

Rose and the Chief looked pleased as they left the squad room, leaving their detectives to do what they do best.

**March 14, 2006**

Drake glared at the photos on his monitor. They were of an unkempt lot, high with weeds and wild flowers. Other photos showed the remains of a charred barn, and the foundation of a house that was no longer there.

"Are you certain there wasn't anything more there when the domain was registered?" JJ asked.

Ted shook his head. "You look at that. It took years for that lot to turn into that. Besides, we asked around and found out that the locals believe the land is haunted."

Drake's head snapped up. "Haunted?" He tried not to smirk. "Perhaps we need to send Dee there for a second look when he gets back?"

The other men laughed. "The only thing creepy during that vacation was JJ," Ted snickered.

JJ frowned. "Hey now. Ask me, creepy was Rose… um, sorry Commissioner." JJ looked ruefully over at the man who arrived at their precinct shortly after Ryo and Dee had returned from their vacation in England.

The Commissioner waved him off. "I need to be creepy to keep the likes of you on your toes. Go on, Ted. Did you find out why they believe so?"

Ted nodded. "Yes sir, we did. A man killed his entire family, including himself in a fire. According to the local police, official story is that he snapped. He tied up his 4 children, his pregnant husband, poured gasoline all over the house and locking himself inside, he set the house on fire. From what forensics on the case were to determine, after he set the house up, he went and held onto his struggling husband. And that's how they died."

Dom shivered. "That's creepy," the FBI agent commented.

"Um yeah, keep Dee away from there, thank you," JJ commented, also shivering.

"Should I ask if anyone knew why he did it?" Drake asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Theory is because of the latest pregnancy. He was already working two jobs trying to support the family. His husband refused to work, wanting to be a stay at home dad," Marty supplied.

"Well, that's wonderful," Dana sighed. "When did this happen?"

"Five years ago," Ted replied.

"And the domain was registered when?" Dom asked.

"January of this year. January 2nd, in fact. Whoever registered the domain knew about what had happened there," Marty stated. "At least that's our theory. The Pompton Lakes Police agreed with us. It's never been sold. The property went to next of kin, but no one wants to do anything with it, except let it continue to rot."

"Nice," JJ mumbled. "So someone who has it in for Carriers pick this address to register their new domain to lure unsuspecting Carriers to their deaths."

"We don't know that for a fact, JJ," Andy commented, then looked around to see what the Commissioner would do. He was not expecting to find himself working with brass from his first day as a white shield detective.

"Andy is correct," Diana stated. "But that shouldn't stop us from looking further into making it fact."

"Agreed," Rose stated. "I want you to go back through the other victims, speak to their families again, if need, and see if this website comes up."

"JJ and I are going back to speak to Peter Kane again," Drake stated.

"Good idea. Ask him more about how much does he know about the site," Diana said.

"According to another witness, he said he was going to find a place to dump off Brent so he wouldn't be bothered anymore," Dana stated. "You think he's part of it?"

Drake shook his head. "I think he did just what he said. Something tells me he wasn't counting on Brent ending up dead, but he was planning on sending him away. Of course, we need to make sure on that. Which is why we're going back to speak to him. We have Kira's statements saying he mentioned a plan to get Brent out of his hair and help Brent get off the streets."

Rose stood up. "I say go for it. Take Andy and Dana with you. I want you to canvas the entire dorm, speak to professors, directors for activities and clubs, everything. I don't care how long it takes, don't come back until everyone possible is spoken too. Meanwhile, let me sign the papers to allow Jim to transfer Brent's belongings to CSU over in the Bronx."

JJ sighed as he watched the Commissioner leave before anyone acknowledged him. "Fine. I want Starbucks along the way."

"Are we allowed to stop for that?" Andy asked.

Dana snorted. "As long as you pay for everyone, why not?" she commented.

Drake laughed. "I like her," he commented to JJ. "Just wait until the lovebirds come back to this."

JJ smirked. "Yeah." He watched as Andy pulled together everything the rookie detective thought he would need and put into a briefcase. "Just wait until Ryo finds out we have someone who is so by the book, it'll make him look like a slacker just by comparison."

Diana came up behind them. "So imagine what that makes the rest of you slackers look like then, hm?"

Drake and JJ glared as Diana sauntered by, heading for the door and laughing. Dominic was pulling his own things together as fast as he could so he could keep up with her.

"Don't worry, Dom," Drake said to the harried man. "If you lose her, you'll be doing yourself the favor."

JJ laughed as Dom allowed a small grin as he finally started to leave the office.

"Ted and Marty, continue to work on the databases, and poke around for anything else you might feel is necessary. And be prepared to gofer for any of us who calls in," Drake instructed.

"Yeah yeah. That's the thanks we get for spending the morning up in Pompton Lakes. New Jersey sucks man," Ted grumbled.

"Says you," Marty laughed, who owned a home East New York, NJ, with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline from his living room and upstairs master bedroom.

**March 16, 2006**

Ryo entered the bedroom, dressed only in swim trunks. His skin glowed with a tan from being in the sun for the last few days. He had a tan line under his trunks, but it was only a little lighter than the rest of his body, thanks to the privacy of the pool that came with their suite.

Through the window, he saw Dee sitting on the edge of the pool, his legs in the water. Ryo felt sorry for Dee, who remained mostly covered, except for short periods, while he was out in the sun. Only his arms appeared darker than his normal olive complexion. At least Dee was following all the advice Vince gave him for vacationing in a warm, sunny climate while pregnant.

Smiling, Ryo went through the sliding doors to enter the pool area and join his husband. He had been studying Dee from the moment his eyes set sight on the dark haired man. Ryo had to admit there were no signs of stress coming from Dee. He did not care if he walked around the beach and resort in beach pants and a long loose lightweight shirt while Ryo wore shorts and tank tops. What mattered most to Dee was he was finally free to roam about. Dee enjoyed being able to go out for a short while on his own.

Ryo had let Dee make a run each day to the 'Village Shoppe' next to the main building. Being that within the building was a mini-mart and gift shop, it was the only building that was non-inclusive. On the whole, both men found they were pretty much provided for in what came with the package, from fruit juices and ginger ale stocked daily in their fridge, along with a couple of cans of beer, Coke and a bottle of wine for Ryo, and some food stuff. When they signed up for the resort and were asked to fill out the survey, they believed it was just another way for the company that owned the resort to learn the demographics of their clients. As they discovered, the survey was read, and their amenities were catered to according to their survey. They were also asked by Gabrielle about some things during their tour, and she took notes. It was all for making their stay as pleasant as possible. However, Ryo allowed Dee to take the walk to the building, even if to come back empty handed, because for the first time in a while, Dee had the freedom to walk around on his own. It was good for Dee, and Ryo dreaded when they would have to return home. He found himself hoping for a miracle and they would return home to find their bad guy behind bars, making the streets safe for Dee once again.

Ryo sat down next to Dee, placing his legs in the tepid water. He leaned over to lightly kiss his new husband. Dee returned the kiss, running a hand down Ryo's bronze back.

One other thing Ryo had noticed. Ever since Dee sent Rose the email from Miami and found a reply waiting for them when he was able to log into the laptop the next day in their suite at the resort, Dee was willing to forget about what was happening in New York City. In Miami, they had heard on CNN about the two bodies discovered on their wedding day. Rose addressed Dee's question on why they weren't told, and both men accepted the explanation. As they read on, they were pleased to hear of the changes being made to their unit. It was enough for them to decide to stay away from newspapers and TV news unless it was local. This was their honeymoon getaway. They were content with what was going on back home being handled . This was what they both needed since Ryo came home from that first crime scene in January.

"Did you enjoy yourself today?" Dee asked, kicking his feet gently in the water.

Ryo nodded. "Oh yeah. It was great to spend the day going around town."

Dee chuckled. "Do you think we spent enough today?"

Ryo laughed. "Well, we did get presents for everyone at home. And we even got some cute items for the baby. I'm not worried; that AMEX is far from getting declined anytime soon anyway."

Dee sighed dramatically. "I don't know what we're going to do when we get home and there's no Rolls to get us around."

Ryo peered at Dee, seeing he was joking, and yet knowing Dee was enjoying that treat of luxury while they had it. "Well, I can always speak to Grandma and see if something could be worked out."

"RYO!" Dee gasped.

Ryo laughed again. He kissed Dee before leaning forward and going into the water.

Dee jumped off the edge, not able to roll off the side as gracefully as Ryo did. Ryo came out from the water, grabbing onto Dee for a kiss. The two men remained in the middle of the pool, kissing for a few minutes in the setting sun. When they broke the kiss, Ryo went over to the ramp that gently sloped into the water. He lay on his back, the majority of his body below his shoulders submerged in the water, while his head remained above the water. Dee swam over in a few easy strides and straddled Ryo. Grinning, he stared down, allowing the water from his hair to drip on his lounging husband. 

"Hey, go drip somewhere else," Ryo tried to complain. For a reply, Dee leaned over and started to kiss Ryo, his hands roaming along the fine, hard contours of Ryo's chest. 

Ryo groaned when Dee pulled back to give them air. "Dee, why must you do this just before we need to get ready for dinner?" Dark eyes gazed up at Dee. 

Dee licked his lips, as a finger drew lazy circles around Ryo's right nipple. "Because it give us something to look forward to come back to?" he asked. 

"Dee, last night we ended up taking in some entertainment after dinner, then we had that nice stroll along the beach back here… and we almost didn't make it." 

Dee laughed. "I'm sure we wouldn't have been the first ones," he stated. "But we did make it back here. Barely. I had you in the entryway." 

Ryo glanced up at Dee with teasing eyes. "Well tonight, can we at least make it into the living room? Or even upstairs?" 

"You want to do me with a view of the beach? You want to do me with all of the Caribbean looking on?" Dee asked, amused, a smirk on his face. 

"No one is looking on," Ryo protested. "But it is nice to make love in such an open place like it is up there." 

Dee nodded. "Yeah. I know." 

Ryo placed his hands on Dee's hips. "Besides, I can always pretend that those people on the beach are watching as I do you." 

Dee's eyes went wide with surprise, and Ryo took advantage of the moment, rolling them both to the side and off the ramp. He held onto Dee, making sure his pregnant husband's head did not go under the water. Dee ended up wrapping his legs around Ryo. 

"Bad move, Mr. Laytner-MacLean," Dee remarked, then lightly kissed Ryo. "Because how are we ever going to get to dinner like this?" he asked and kissed Ryo again, this time deeply. 

There came no reply as Ryo hungrily returned the kiss. There was no set time for dinner, unless they intended to make one of the shows with dinner or one of the beach parties. The restaurants were open throughout the evening, but reservations were recommended for the choice seating in some of the places.

Their first night there, they had dinner sent to their suite, but found themselves later in the evening glad to find the pub had late hours, as they found themselves with an appetite to match their sex drives. The night before, they had participated in a beach party, that served grilled seafood, meat and vegetables, including local specialties, while there was native dancing around the bon fire. That night, the newlyweds were planning to eat at the beachside Polynesian restaurant.

The two men made it to dinner later than they planned.


	32. After the Honeymoon

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 32 - After the Honeymoon  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**March 17, 2006**

The phone was answered on the second ring. Without preamble, before giving a chance to properly answer the phone, the voice on the other end simply stated, "This is a bad idea."

"It's a little too late to be backing out, isn't it?" came the reply of the one who was called in a condescending sneer.

"I'm not backing out. But I'm not going to allow three dumps at one time."

"We set our terms. Dee Laytner is still a detective, last I checked. Not one word from the NYPD about his being relieved of duty. Not even a word about the note from them. Tomorrow will be a week since our warning. I expect to follow through with the threat. Do you hear me? Or am I not paying you enough?"

A derisive snort came through the line. "I don't need to be paid to rid this planet of those godawful creatures. However, the money is a nice bonus. It helps me do my work with more precautions taken. And that's what I'm getting at. I don't want any slip ups that could lead the police to me. Besides, you need me, because you don't have the guts to do the job yourself."

"I am in a position where I cannot. We won't mention how you are careful not to get blood on your hands. Now, do you have three of those freaks ready for delivery?"

"I do, but so far I only have two being prepared for next week."

"Then get two more."

"I can only go by whatever contacts we get through the site. I have just one meet up for next week, and there's no guarantee a move could be made at the time. I also hear that cops have been snooping around the lot, and asking questions. I need to use more caution in screening inquiries now."

"Take only the obviously pregnant ones, as usual. The ones six months and over. All else, have them pumped for information. Keep them around if they are nearing six months. Have them spread the word while waiting. And make sure there are four drop offs by no later than next Monday night. If by that Tuesday, we don't hear anything from the NYPD about releasing Laytner of duty, there's going to be a little leak about the note to the press."

"And then if they still don't?" I'll be lucky to have four to deliver for that Monday. I don't see how I can get five for next week unless we start to randomly pick off the streets."

"That's too dangerous. You need to start advertising yourself, but still use discretion."

"Do you hear yourself? If I want to remain discreet, I can't do a major campaign."

"There are ways. You have proven yourself adept with business. So get the word out about the site. Go outside New York City if need. I don't care. As long as there are bodies and the dumps are within the city limits. If they don't relieve him, I want Laytner to feel the guilt of what he is inflicting. I want him to suffer, knowing those deaths are his fault. And I want to make an example of him to all civil servants who dare think to create those monster babies while being paid on taxpayers' money. Do I make myself clear?"

"Very much. But I can't make any promises. If no one emails the site, then we have nothing."

"Find a way to get them to respond. That's your problem."

"Or what?"

"Let's not have it come to that, shall we. I expect a delivery of three dead Carriers by Monday. If nothing by the following week, then four more. Should the NYPD come to their senses, we'll take a break and start collecting those freaks. We still have a few more demands to be made. Not to mention still need to clean the streets of freaks."

"I'll do my best."

The phone hung up before there was a chance for further comment.

"Damn you, Dee Laytner. Mr. Police Celebrity because you dare to get yourself knocked up. But soon you will realize the errors of your ways. And your husband too."

**March 22, 2006**

JJ looked up from his notes when he heard someone enter the squadroom from the office that had been unoccupied for almost two weeks. With a wide smile, he jumped up from his chair and charged for the door.

Ryo let out a yelp of surprise as he found himself being pinned to the wall and hugged enthusiastically by the man who was once his rival. "JJ!" he cried out, but could not help laugh.

"I just missed you," JJ remarked, pulling away from Ryo, but still standing close.

"Nope! I'm not giving up any explicit details of the honeymoon, so don't try," Ryo remarked, with a roguish grin.

JJ threw his head back and laughed. He hugged Ryo again. "Just welcoming you back." He glanced up at Ryo with hooded, teasing eyes. "But I man could always hope, you know."

"Nice try, JJ." Ryo patted JJ's shoulder. "But down now. Okay?"

"Well, all right."

As JJ started to back away, Ryo lunged and pulled JJ into a hug, making the smaller detective squeal with surprise.

"Hey, hey!" Drake's voice called out as he entered from the other door. "What the hell are you two doing? Ryo! You're a married man now, so off of JJ!"

Ryo and JJ looked at each other and laughed. "It's okay," JJ assured Drake with a smile. "If you think this is something, wait until Dee comes in tomorrow."

Ryo gave JJ a mock frown. "Remember there's a baby that will be in the way," he stated.

JJ chuckled. "So that's how it went."

"JJ!" Ryo remarked, scandalized, then laughed. He lifted his left hand to push wayward bangs out of his eyes.

JJ smiled, grabbing the hand and admiring the white gold and diamond geometric band, then looked up to Ryo's face, studying the taller, brown haired man. "Marriage suits you, Ryo. I can already see a difference."

"A good one, I hope."

JJ nodded vigorously. "Oh very good." He winked at Ryo. "It's kinda sexy too. Especially with that tan thing you have going on. Very nice."

"JJ!" Drake snapped.

"Oh relax. Ryo may be sexy, but I can't have him anymore than I could have Dee."

"So you might as well settle for second best, huh?"

"Oh, don't start so early in the morning, Drake. At least let Ryo have his first cup of coffee before involving him in the drama, huh?"

Drake shook his head. Pointing a finger at JJ, he said, "You just back down and behave already, huh? And while you're doing that, let me welcome Ryo back."

Ryo braced himself, after JJ's welcome, but Drake came over and clapped a friendly hand on Ryo's shoulder, and grinned at him. "Welcome back, dude."

"Thanks," Ryo laughed.

"So how was the honeymoon, sparing us certain details," Drake inquired, guiding Ryo over to the desks.

"Very nice, for the most part," Ryo replied. "We encountered some assholes on the flight out of JFK and at the hotel in Atlanta, but we sorted that out well enough. Miami was great. And Nassau was just amazing." His grin grew. "It was just what we needed, especially Dee. You can see the visible difference having none of the stress he dealt with here. Which is why it's a shame we have to come back." His smile faded a little.

JJ directed Ryo to sit in the seat he vacated. "Well, we have a whole bunch of bad news, but on the other hand, we have some good news that I think will make a huge difference for Dee."

"Oh?" Ryo asked, looking from JJ to Drake.

Drake nodded. "Oh definitely. For one, which they told us you two know, Dee will be having more of role in investigations. Hopefully that will relieve a lot of the stress he was feeling thinking he was demoted to unit admin."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, Dee was excited about that. Especially when he found out that he'll be actively talking to victims."

"Yeah. When I heard that, I thought he'd like that," JJ said.

"But he'll still have to be limited to where he goes out of here and still need bodyguards," Ryo said, frowning a little.

"Maybe," Drake stated. "I think the only 'bodyguard' Dee will need to have is his partner, along with whoever else happens to also be needed to go out on a call."

Ryo looked thoughtful. "I'm Dee's partner," he pointed out.

"We're all each other's partners," Drake corrected. "And you and Dee are still very much in charge of this unit. But yes, there are some things that Dee shouldn't be charging out to handle, but you can. So until after Dee comes back from baby leave, you will have another main partner, more or less. Not that you and Dee still don't have things you need to do together, like speaking to victims' families. Sorry, that's a shitty task, but you and Dee are the best suited to handle it."

"It is a shitty task," Ryo agreed, "but one Dee and I accept, no matter how tough it is."

"I don't envy you," Drake sighed. "JJ and I had our share while you two were honeymooning, and it sucks more than your average situation to speak to survivors."

Ryo sighed. "I know. But…." Ryo shrugged. "Maybe because Dee and I are thankful it's not one of us someone is talking to? I don't know, but we did talk about it while taking a nice walk along the beach in Miami the other night. It's just something we accept as our duty, so yeah, it's shitty and it sucks, but we want the job."

JJ nodded. "Speaking of, we have more news that I think you'll be happy to hear. Well, at least relieved. Apparently we can give Dee a little more freedom than we've been giving him."

"Oh?" Ryo asked, glancing hopefully at JJ. "Please tell me you caught our killer while Dee and I were flying into New York."

"Can't give you that, buddy," Drake said gently. "But we can tell you that we know for sure that all our victims were not randomly grabbed off the streets."

"Huh? So we need to make sure Dee's not being watched, or followed or stalked?" Ryo asked.

Drake sat on the corner of the desk, and picked up a folder from the surface, dropping it before Ryo. "The report on how our victims were lured. There's this website that we managed to link each and every one of our vics to, along with some of our missing persons. Unfortunately, that means we know those particular missing persons will end up being a victim, unless we can find out who is killing them before then."

Ryo took a deep breath and opened the folder. JJ and Drake watched on as Ryo read the report written up by Drake and JJ. When he closed the folder, he looked up at the two men. "Thank you," he said softly. "It's very thorough and researched and I feel confident that as long as Dee doesn't have contact with someone from that site, we can let him out in the streets more." Ryo rested his hand flat on the folder. "But that doesn't mean I want him to be out in the streets by himself. I promised Dee that we're going out of town for one weekend a month, just far away enough that he can have the freedom to walk around by himself for a while. He did some of that in the Bahamas and it also did him a world of good."

Drake nodded. "Understood. I don't blame you. But I think you don't have to be so paranoid when you're out in the streets with Dee. Hey, look. Chief wants to speak to the three of us, which is why we're here to welcome you. The others are already out and about on the case. This website is giving us hope of having a collar soon, but it's taking a lot of hard work."

Ryo glanced at the pile of folders. "Is this all on the case?"

"Yeah," JJ replied as Ryo started to look through them. "Dana, one of the new detectives, and who will be working with Dee, already has two additional cases that Dee will be involved with when he comes back."

"Oh?" Ryo looked up interested.

"One is domestic violence," JJ replied. "Boyfriend goes ballistic when boyfriend comes home announces he's pregnant. Turns out ballistic boyfriend is one of those queers who hates Carriers." JJ grimaced. "Case number two is a couple with a young baby, who had slurs and threats grafittied on their property."

"Nice," Ryo commented, then looked thoughtful. "So Dee will be working fully on those cases?" he asked. "With Dana, that is."

"Yes," Drake replied. "As well as working with the rest of us in finding our killer. But Chief will fill you in on all that."

Ryo sat back in the chair and gazed up at Drake, and then JJ. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad to be officially back on this case."

"We're glad to have you officially back," JJ said. "At least Rose and Chief saw the errors of their ways."

"When they first told me we were off the case, I pointed out that we have parents working with cases that have child abuse, so what was the difference?"

JJ smirked and Drake shook his head.

"What?" Ryo asked.

JJ looked at his watch. "Oh lookie that! It's time to go say hello to Chief. Come along, Ryo. You don't want to be late to a meeting with the Badger, do you?"

Ryo glared at JJ, knowing a diversion, but Drake and JJ were already on their way out of the office. Ryo figured while it was still a diversion, apparently it was a legitimate one, so he stood up and followed his fellow detectives out of the office.

"Come in," Chief Smith grumped when JJ knocked on the door. "Oh good, all three of you fatheads decided to make it on time. Nice to see that lounging around idly with that other slacker didn't put too much of a crimp in your style, Randy."

"Thank you, Chief," Ryo replied with a smirk. "It's good to be back too."

Drake snorted as Chief glared up at Ryo, then "harrumphed". "Sit down everyone. Did you and Dee have a good honeymoon?" he asked.

"Very good," Ryo replied, grinning.

"Good, 'cause slacking time is over. I hope you and Dee rested good, because you're going to find yourselves very busy."

Ryo nodded. "I understand, sir. Dee and I are anxious to get back into the swing of things."

"We'll see. Now we're going to make sure we don't wear Dee out, but he has his work cut out for him. I know that bastard is stubborn when he gets caught up in a case, so I'm going to depend on you to know when Dee needs to back down a little. Got it?"

"Of course, sir." Ryo couldn't help but smile at Chief's admitting that Dee can work harder than the rest of them when he wants justice served.

"I need you to keep your head, Randy. You're going to face up to a lot of assholes along the way. I can't have you slugging them all. Unless they make a move first. Understood?"

"Yes sir. I understand."

"Bad enough I had this one just walking out of an interview," he indicated JJ. "Even if Adams most probably had a right."

"I'd have knocked both their heads together if I stayed, Chief," JJ stated.

"I know, Adams. Randy, take example from him. If you feel your fists clenching, excuse yourself and walk the hell out. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"You'll all be working in pairs, so whoever you're with will carry on the interview while you cool down. I'm going to give Dee the same advice. Actually I had to also give the talk to Ted and Dana. Dana is the new girl around here, and will be Dee's primary partner for the next couple of months." Chief raised a defensive hand. "We're not splitting you and Dee up. You're all going to be working together in this unit. But you will be taking on some tasks that Dee shouldn't in his condition. Dana is a seasoned detective who recently got her gold shield and was allowed to pick her next assignment if she wanted to leave her old unit. Meanwhile, you, Randy my boy, will get to break in the rookie. Andy finally got moved into the Detective Bureau from C.S.U. So while he's the new guy in what you do, I'm sure he'll be full of advice and experience from his three years in C.S.U. Guide him, and listen to him. I'm putting my faith in you, Randy."

"Yes sir."

JJ rolled his eyes and chuckled. "This is going to be interesting."

"Quiet Adams," Chief warned him.

"What?"

Chief guffawed and Drake groaned.

"What?"

Chief put his beefy arms on the desk and leaned toward Ryo. "Andy is a good kid. He's already proven himself able to work within this unit."

Ryo caught an edge to Chief. "But?" he prompted.

"This is going to sound like a damn strange thing coming from me, but I'm hoping you'll teach him to loosen up a little."

"L-loosen up?" Ryo looked startled.

"Andy, well, he's all by the book," JJ stated. "He thinks within the book."

Chief nodded. "It's good to know the rules and how to play with them, but you've been a detective long enough to know when the rules need to be bent a little to get the job done. I also trust that you know just how much to bend without going too far. Which is why this task is on you. Show Andy the ropes, and how to loosen that noose of his."

Drake laughed.

"Oh… Is he really that bad?" Ryo had to ask.

"Definitely. Look Randy, between the three of us in this office, Andy can make you look your worse on your best day. Unfortunately, that means he's lost opportunity where a little side serving of bullshit could have taken him far. Your assignment, and you have no choice but to accept, is to get him to think outside the box, while not losing sight of the rules inside that box. Got it?"

Ryo nodded, not sure what to say. He decided to just wait until he met his new partner and take it from there. He was certain Dee would be highly amused that Ryo was, in essence, tasked to corrupt the rookie.

"Now about Dee's new partner. Dana will be with us for only a few months, then she'll be off for two months. She'll be back not long after Dee's scheduled to deliver," Chief continued.

Ryo's eyebrows rose at that. "Don't tell me that you have Dana taking cases with Dee because she's ready to drop her litter?" Ryo asked.

Chief laughed. "Does Dee know you're talking about delivering babies that way?" He waved off any reply. "No. Not Dana. But her husband is, and of course, she'll be taking 6 – 8 weeks baby leave when he delivers."

"Oh." Ryo thought of the woman he had met in the boutique the other month, and her explaining how she could not have children so her Carrier husband did the in vitro method. That he was to work with another woman in that situation fascinated him. "I'm looking forward to meeting her," he stated with a smile.

"Good. You'll most probably start meeting the others later in the morning. Now onto some of the nasty things you need to know," Chief said.

Both Drake and JJ looked uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Commissioner Rose wanted to be present for this, but unfortunately a matter came up that he had to take care of. Look Randy, no beating around the bush here, okay?"

"Sure. Just spill. I'm ready."

JJ looked at Ryo with an uneasy glance.

"Randy, you know about those two dumps on your wedding day."

Ryo nodded.

"And I'm sure by now you heard about the three dumps between Sunday and yesterday?"

"Yes. Just get to it already, Chief."

"Inside the remains of our Corona victim, there was a note – sealed in a Ziploc, of course."

"A note?"

Chief picked up an envelope and withdrew some photos. "The note clearly stated that unless we relieve Dee of duty, the deaths will increase by one each week that he's still an active MOS."

Ryo's mouth hung open.

JJ saw the slight shiver that ran through Ryo and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"So far we can see no threat to Dee physically," Chief explained. "Whoever this psychopath is, he has a bitch against an active duty pregnant Carrier. We've been watching activity around your apartment and no one has seen any suspicious characters. We're going to continue to monitor, but as of now, we don't believe Dee's life is in danger."

"That was on our wedding day?" Ryo asked, his mind racing. "One of two victims? And as of yesterday that made three victims after this Sunday?"

Chief sighed.

"Because Dee's still active duty. Right?"

"That's correct," Chief Smith replied. And he's going to remain so. No one remotely considered making him turn in his shield and gun. We're not in the business of giving into some idiot's demands, not matter what his methods. And I'll be damned if I'm going to make one of my best damn detectives give up his career for that asshole. So Dee's not going anywhere, but working on cases with Dana."

Ryo snorted as he took the photos from Chief. As he studied the black and white exhibits of the note, some in the gory plastic bag and others out of it, he shook his head. "I know Dee enough to know he'll say otherwise."

"We know that, too, Randy. Which is why we're depending on you to help us keep him on the force."

"Chief," Ryo snapped, his eyes going to the Chief. "Three Carriers died because Dee's resignation wasn't announced by, I'm guessing Saturday. You tell me how he's going to take that? And then four next week? And five the week after that? How do you expect Dee to live with that?"

"I expect Dee to realize that he's not at fault for those murders. That Carriers were being killed before that. From what we figure, the killer saw Dee at the press conference and got bent out of shape that the NYPD dared to make an active Carrier its poster boy for justice." Chief stood up from his seat and leaned imposingly over his desk toward Ryo. "And I want you to think long and hard on this, Randy, then you tell me that if Dee resigned do you really believe the killing is going to stop?"

Ryo sighed again, knowing the answer already. "But Dee won't see that right away."

"Then we all need to make him see it. And if we can't, then we have an alternate plan," Chief remarked, sitting down.

"What's that?"

"Let him resign. Or at least let him believe he is. Only we won't push the paperwork through. Because once the first body shows up after he thinks he solved the problem by quitting, I trust Dee enough to be enraged. To realize the fool he got played for. And to want to come back with a vengeance. And his shield will be waiting for him to realize that."

Ryo blinked, then stared at the Chief. "And you want me to keep this from Dee? Chief, I just got married. And you're pushing this shit on me to keep from my husband?!?"

"Yes, I am. For your husband's sake. If you want, no one will ever mention that you were told. Besides the three of us, the only other person who knows what I just told you is Commissioner Rose. Because it is his idea."

Ryo shook his head. "No. If it comes to that, and when Dee decides he wants his shield back, I'll tell him the truth first, if that's okay with you."

"We can do that."

"He'll be pissed at first, maybe even still feel like he was played, but once he has his shield back with no red tape and settles down, he'll come to see it was all for his best interest," Ryo said.

"Of course. We're going to talk hard to keep him from resigning. He's even going to be recommended counseling to deal with any false guilt he might encounter. But if it comes down to the situation being too much to handle, and threaten the baby's health, we'll let him, quote, unquote, resign."

"Understood, Chief." Ryo looked deflated. While he was still gloriously tanned a golden bronze, he appeared to lose the glow he had when he first entered the office.

"I'm sorry that real life had to invade so shortly after your much needed time of relaxation, but you can understand now why we hoped you and Dee had much relaxation and unstressing during your honeymoon," Chief said.

Ryo looked at Drake and JJ. "I just realized that I saw a five on one of the victims on our wedding day, and it was signed by Drake. Did everyone know about this then?"

JJ nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Drake and I were called out early in the morning to Flushing Meadows Park and then as we were heading back to Manhattan, we got the call for the one in Battery Park City. The Commissioner decided it was best we didn't ruin your big day, so we all kept quiet about it. Drake and I barely made it back in time to be dressed for the ceremony."

Ryo studied JJ, then Drake. "Thanks," he said softly. "I know it might sound cold, but thank you. I wouldn't have dealt with it that day, and Dee definitely wouldn't have."

"We know," Drake said. "That's why it was an easy decision. Keep it from you two until you got back."

"Actually no one knew about the note until you had already left for your honeymoon," JJ said. "Well, Rose knew by the time he showed up for the brunch, but he didn't tell us until later that afternoon."

Ryo studied the photos again before handing them back to Chief. "Is there anything else, sir?" he asked.

"Just get yourself acquainted with the advances made on this case, as well as with your new partner," Chief said. "And don't tell Dee about the note until he comes in tomorrow."

Ryo bit his lip. "That's going to be hard, but yeah. You're right."

"Be prepared to work hard, Randy. More than ever before."

"No problem."

"And as strange as this sounds, but unless something goes down that absolutely has to be attended to, tomorrow the entire unit will be going out for an extended lunch. I want all of you to spend a little time together outside of the work environment and get to know the newbies. You'll be mostly partnered with Andy until you go on baby leave. When you come back, you'll be working with Dana. When Dee returns, you and Dee go back to being primary partners, and hopefully Andy and Dana will be ready to work together as a team. But most important of all, you all need to be able to work with any one in this unit in pairings, and as a whole unit. The lunch will include Diana and Dominic, who are the FBI agents in the unit."

JJ snickered. "Dana is a sweetheart, but she has a few strange ways about her that take some getting used to."

Drake laughed. "And we're still getting used to it."

"As long as it doesn't get in the way of your jobs," Chief stated. "And no more screw ups like the last couple of days from Andy. And that will be your responsibility, Randy."

Ryo found he could grin at the Chief. "Chief, you just gave me carte blanc to corrupt a rookie. How bad can that be?"

Drake and JJ broke out in laughter.

"That's all. Get out of here, you slackers," Chief dismissed the three.

As Ryo started to leave the office, Chief called him back. "Oh Randy?"

"Yes, Chief."

"Welcome back, Detective Laytner-MacLean."

Ryo saluted the Chief smartly. "Glad to be back, sir."

"Now get out of here and do some work."

Ryo chuckled as he joined Drake and JJ and headed back to their area. The two detectives set him up in the office he shared with Dee, with all the files on the case and coffee, while they went back to finish up the reports they were working on when Ryo came in.

Ryo looked up when a sharp knock came on his office door from the squadroom. The door was already opening and Drake was sticking his head in.

"Ryo, your minions have returned, and they bring decent coffee with lunch," Drake remarked, looking amused.

Ryo closed the folder he was reading, and picked up the notepad he was making notes on. "Some people just have way too much fun at work," he remarked, trying but failing to keep the grin from his face. As much fun as he had during his honeymoon, he had to admit times like that were to be only a respite from his otherwise hectic lifestyle. It felt good to be back.

Drake laughed. As Ryo approached the door, the taller blond haired detective called out, "People, the man you've all been waiting to see!"

Just as Ryo walked through the door, giving Drake a slap on his arm, he heard someone called out, "What if it's Dee we're waiting to see?"

"I thought I was your cutie pie," Ryo remarked to Diana with a smile. He suddenly found himself being hugged by the vivacious blond FBI agent.

"Oh but you are. But we haven't seen Dee in almost two weeks. I'm sure he's going to look… different, by now," Diana said, kissing his cheek. "Welcome back, sweetie."

"Oh my!" Ted remarked. "Ryo, you got this sorta skin color change thing going on."

Ryo smirked as he looked over to where Ted's voice came from. "It's already fading. In another week or two, I'll look like I haven't seen any decent sun in forever. How's it going, Tedster?"

"Fine, just fine. Looking forward to finally having a day off around here once you and Dee are fully back in the loop," Ted remarked. He came over to shake Ryo's hand. "I take it you enjoyed yourself while you were gone?"

Ryo nodded his head. "Very much. In fact, Dee and I decided that as soon as the baby is old enough to travel, we're going back for another week."

"That doesn't sound very romantic, having a baby crying on a second honeymoon," Ted remarked.

"Romantic can be many things," Ryo replied. "Enjoying a relaxing vacation in a beautiful setting with your husband and infant can also be romantic, you know. That family thing and all." He winked at Ted, who shook his head.

Marty laughed. "Aw, look. Our little Ryo is all grown up now. Spoken like a true family man, Ryo." He came up to shake Ryo's hand. "Glad to see the honeymoon did you some good."

Ryo grinned. "Marriage is doing me good. You know, I've been together with Dee almost three years, and we've been living together since the summer, so I thought it wouldn't feel any different. But it does. When I look at Dee now, I see my husband. I know for certain that he's going to be the one with me when we're old and gray and the kids are hopefully looking out for us." He smiled.

"Good on ya, pal," Marty stated. "And yeah, it does that. Darla and I were high school sweethearts, but from the day we said our vows to each other, I did see her differently in a good way. By the way, that tan does look good on you."

"Thanks," Ryo remarked with a grin.

"What I want to know is if there's a tan line," Diana said, tugging at the waist of his pants.

"Hey! That's only for my husband to know, you wench. Let go!" Ryo complained, trying not to laugh. "Now where are all these new people I've been hearing about." He glanced around the office as Marty and Drake pulled a still giggling Diana away from Ryo.

"This is your new partner, Andy Rozinksky," Ted introduced, from his place standing next to Andy. "Andy, Randy Laytner-MacLean, but you can call him Ryo. The rest of us do."

"Besides, we really don't need this Randy and Andy thing going on around here," JJ remarked with a snicker. "Anyway, we have enough 'D's around this place now."

Ryo gave JJ a mild glare, while the shorter detective laughed.

"They tell me you're Japanese," Andy said as Ryo came over to them.

"My mother is half, yes," Ryo replied. "And I spent time growing up in Japan. In fact, my grandmother is still here from Japan. Nice to meet you, Andy." He put out his hand to shake the other man's.

He noted that Andy was about his height with sandy brown hair and gray eyes.

"Glad to finally meet you," Andy replied. "You can't spend time around here without hearing much about you and Dee. It's almost as if I'm meeting a legend," he laughed.

"No legends here. They just like to talk about us a lot, try to make us look bad," Ryo remarked.

"I have to say I admire Dee for staying active during his pregnancy," Andy stated. "I took a leave of absence to have my son back in my uniform days," he said.

"Please, don't put Dee on a pedestal for just doing his job. I don't think he knows how not to be a detective, since it was his dream since he was a teen. He really had no choice. Nor about becoming pregnant, I'm afraid to admit," he added ruefully.

"Oh, he had a choice all right," Diana giggled. "He could have just said no and kept his front to you."

"Diana!" Ryo squawked, horrified. "I'm going to get you for that comment. You won't know when, but it'll happen. Don't worry about that."

"Yeah yeah… and I'm still waiting for all the revenge from all the other times going back to when we first met. Empty threats," Diana stated.

Ryo opened his mouth to start to say something, then thought better. "I'll deal with you later." He smirked. "Sea Hag."

Diana's mouth dropped as the men Ryo knew from CI started to laugh.

"So moving on," Ryo remarked. "Who's next?"

Dominic came over to him. "Special Agent Dominic Romano," he said, holding out his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

JJ cleared his throat. "Dominic remained active duty while carrying his babies. Three times."

Ryo's eyes took in the man who was Dee's height. He had sable brown hair and hazel brown eyes, his skin tone that of a perpetual tan. He definitely fell into the category of not looking like the type to Carry, but Ryo had long learned there was no stereotype to the type of man who would. He smiled at Dominic. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent Romano."

"Please, call me Dom. And I'll call you Ryo. Deal?"

Ryo smiled at the easily likeable man. "Deal. So how old are your children?" he asked.

"I have a 7 year old and 3 year old, both girls. My youngest is 16 weeks," he remarked. "I had just returned from baby leave when this assignment came up. As you may guess, I knew it was one I had to be part of. We're actually from Philadelphia, but the family is settling in nicely here in New York. We're renting right now, while we look for a house to buy."

"Well, welcome not only to the 2-7, but to New York City," Ryo remarked. "And congratulations on the newest addition."

Dominic smiled. "I have experience trying to do my job to the fullest without compromising the baby's health, so I'll be honored to pass on any advice to your husband."

"I know I'll appreciate it. Thank you, Dom."

Drake cleared his throat. "One more and then we can move onto business."

"Yes, of course. I heard that Dana's husband is Carrying," Ryo started, then looked over to notice the petite blond woman. His smile was wide after a momentary look of amazement. "You have to be already living in the city," he said to Dana. "It's nice to see you again."

Dana studied Ryo. "We know each other?" she asked.

"I was just going to say the same thing," JJ said, "But then I don't recall seeing her at the wedding."

"We met in that Carrier boutique on Spring Street last month. We were both waiting outside the dressing room."

Dana's eyes went wide. "Oh! Yeah, I remember now." She laughed. "Yes, that was me. Imagine that, us talking and both being detectives. Small world."

"Yeah," Ryo agreed. "But I'm starting to learn that when it comes to Carriers, the world is smaller."

"Indeed it seems to be," Dana agreed as Ryo took her hand. "While it's quite common, it still seems to be such a big deal. Particularly for a heterosexual man."

"Well, I have lots of respect for your husband. And I'm looking forward to working with you," Ryo replied as they shook hands. Her shake was firm and strong, which was incongruious to be coming from such a delicate small hand. From the strength of her grip and the fire in her eyes, Ryo knew that even though he towered over Dana in height, that Dee was in good hands having her as a partner.

"I'm sure we'll also be able to commiserate with each other, both of us having pregnant husbands," she said with a grin. "And I promise to take care of Dee. I know how I'd feel if it was my husband out there in a dangerous line of work."

"So what does your husband do?" Diana asked.

"Construction. But since the procedure, Jack had to take on the admin work. It's hard on him. He's used to being up there on the grids, setting steel beams into place, not pushing paper. As much as he's glad to be Carrying our child, I know he can't wait until he's certified fit to go back to what he loves to do for a living. Dee's luckier than he is, but I'll make sure he remembers he can't do everything he used to until after the baby."

Ryo smiled at her. "Thank you. I appreciate it." He looked around at the assembled team. "Well, this is the new CI huh?"

"Actually we're not really CI for the time," Drake informed Ryo. "Our unit is going to be called CHCI. Carrier Hate Crimes Investigation."

"I like it."

"Good. After all, you're one of our bossmen," JJ said with a snicker.

"Behave," Ryo warned. "So I guess I get filled in by everyone now on where we are. I also have some notes about some details I'd like to have more input on."

"That's our Ryo," Ted quipped with a smile. "Always ready."

"Oh, and before I forget," Diana said. "There's Starbuck's coffee there on that file cabinet, and lunch is on its way. I took the liberty of ordering lunch from that café on Broadway that we like to go to for lunch sometimes."

"That's fine, Diana. Thank you," Ryo said, as everyone sat down at their desks. Ryo pulled an extra chair next to Drake's desk and sat down. "While we're on the subject of going out for lunch, I guess first order of business is for everyone to put in a suggestion of somewhere we all can go out to eat for lunch tomorrow, Dee included. I'll review them later and make reservations. Actually it might come down to where I can get reservations for all of us during lunch. Just email me anytime this afternoon. Now, onto the dirty work."

The newly formed unit easily fell into their first formal meeting with one of their supervisors, filling Ryo in on the case, and answering questions he had.

Ryo entered the apartment he shared with Dee. He immediately noticed there was music playing softly, and not much else noise. He recognized the music from a Kabuki soundtrack. He had just hung up his coat on the coat rack when his grandmother rushed over to greet him.

"Ryo, how was your first day back at work. They treated you well, ne e?" she asked.

Ryo hugged her. "Very well, Obāsan," he said smiling. "We have some interesting new people in our unit."

"That's nice. Be quiet now. Dei fell asleep just about 15 minutes ago. Bikky called asking him if he could go with friends for a while after his practice. Dei told him it would be okay."

Ryo smiled at the elderly Japanese woman, and with an arm around her, they walked over to the couch, where Ryo noticed Dee laying on his side, and covered with the throw they kept on the couch. He wanted to lean over and softly kiss Dee's cheek, but was afraid the sleeping man would wake. Instead, he allowed his grandmother to lead him into the dining room.

"You'll want to be getting comfortable, ne e?" she asked as they sat at the table.

"In a few minutes," Ryo said, loosening his tie and opening the first two buttons on his shirt. "Now did you and Dee have a good day?" he asked, removing his tie and placing it in his jacket pocket.

"Very good day. Dei's friend Barry came over this afternoon and we went out shopping for a while. Before that, I made Dei some lunch. Some 'pregnancy sushi' as I call it. He enjoyed it very much. He said there was a restaurant at the resort that had something like that which was very good." Akira smiled wider. "He said it was good, but mine is much better."

Ryo laughed, taking his grandmother's thin wrinkled hands in his. "Thank you, Obāsan. For being so good to Dee."

She shook her head, gazing up at Ryo. "I don't do this for you, Ryo. At first, I liked Dei very much for you and for your mother, but I got to know him. I do this for him because he's an Aoki now."

Ryo's smile was sunny. "Of course. I'm going to miss you when you leave on Saturday." He squeezed his grandmother's hand before bringing it up to his lips and kissing it.

"I will miss you and your family very much too. After the baby is born, you need to come to Kamakura for a while. Last week, while we talked, Bikky told me that he would love to see many of the things I told him about. And I know Dei would love to return to Japan again, after so long."

"I would love to go back myself. It's been too long. And that's my fault."

"It will be a good time, I know. Before that, I told Dei today that I intend to come here for the baby's birth, and stay a few weeks. I would be glad to help out, if you do not mind."

"I'd love it," Ryo smiled. "As long as you don't overdo yourself. But I would be honored to introduce you to your newborn great-grandchild."

Akira got up to hug Ryo. "I am so excited. I do wish I was able to stay another week, but your uncles can't do without me," she remarked.

Ryo laughed. His two uncles and their families lived in the large traditional family home in Kamakura with Akira. The house had been in the family for many generations before Akira. His aunt and her family lived in another family home in the Mount Fuji area, and he had many cousins who lived in Yokohama and Tokyo as well.

"I would have loved to be there for the sonogram. So you and Dei will have to call me right after," she said.

"I'll do you better than that," Ryo said. "We have cams on our new PDAs we got as wedding presents. We'll make sure we know how to use them by next Tuesday, and we'll call you. And send you live video."

Akira hugged him again. "I would love that. Yes!" she exclaimed excited. "Now why don't you get comfortable, and I'll make you a nice snack to hold you over until dinner."

"You're cooking?" he asked.

"Of course. I cook as long as I'm in this house. I made that clear to Dei this afternoon. You can help sometimes. I plan on making all your mother's favorite meals while I'm here. At least the ones that Dei could also eat." She gave him a sly wink. "But I'll slip some things he cannot eat in your lunch."

"Obāsan, you're too much," Ryo laughed. "But I love you."

"I love you, too, Ryo."

All his other relatives had gone back to Japan the past Saturday, spending the week after the wedding sightseeing. From reports they got during their daily calls to Bikky while on their honeymoon, when Bikky got out of school, his grandmother was waiting for him, and he would take on being the family's tour guide. While the other members of the family would go back to their hotel, Akira went back to the apartment and slept in the guest room. Carol was also invited to join them, and they were surprised to hear that they had also managed to get Mother out and around a few times. From what Ryo and Dee had gathered speaking to both women, they had become close. It made both men glad to realize that.

With a smile he decided to go into the bedroom through their private bathroom from the hallway instead of risking waking Dee up to get changed into jeans and a sweater. As he reached the hallway, he could already hear his grandmother in the kitchen.

It was going to be a good week at home, Ryo knew. He was glad to have his grandmother there with them for the time. When they entered the carousel area for luggage in the arrivals area of JFK the day before, they found Bikky, Akira, Mother and Carol waiting to greet them home. Much to their surprise, the Bentley was waiting outside, and they were informed that it was previously planned to make the trip complete for them.

As much fun as it was to be catered to, and being driven around in a Rolls Royce and Bentley, earlier that morning it felt good to Ryo to take on the subway to work, and once again join the working class. He knew he would turn to his rich grandparents for favors only if absolutely necessary, but now that they were back from their honeymoon and their dream wedding was now cherished memories, life was going to go back to what it had been for him and Dee. It was strange at times during the day, Ryo being amazed at how quickly he had become used to being catered to. He wondered how Dee would feel the next day. Especially should there be something in the subway train that would not agree with Dee.

As Ryo got changed it reminded him of the one thing him and Dee had talked about during their honeymoon, and decided once his grandmother had gone back to Japan, they would sit down and see how a used car would fit into their budget.


	33. I Never Took You For A Quitter

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 33 - Never Took You For A Quitter  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

Note: Yes, it's me and I'm alive!!! Turns out that posting on my LJ is much easier – and more personal in replying to comments. I'll still be posting here, I'll still be trying to reply individually to as many reviews as I can, but that's about it for here. So if you won't go over to LJ, then please make sure I have a way to contact you and thank you, along with respond to anything needing a reply. Thanks!

March 23, 2006

With a huge grin Ryo entered the squad room. "Morning everyone. And look who I have with me."

Those in the room looked over to Ryo. Immediately JJ was on his feet and making a dash for the man who appeared behind Ryo. Ryo grabbed onto JJ. "Easy there, remember?"

JJ nodded. "I remember."

Ryo stepped out of the way.

JJ's eyes went wide. "Holy…" He went over to hug Dee. "Welcome back, Dee."

Dee laughed as he hugged JJ back. "Thanks."

Drake and Ted chuckled as they went over to welcome Dee back. While Ryo looked sharp in his dark blue suit, complete with jacket still on, his blue pinstriped shirt crisp with his tie in place, Dee wore a pair of black cargo pants and red dress shirt, both of them of fashionable Carrier style that Estelle had bought for him before the honeymoon.

"Dee, this isn't the Bahamas anymore," Ted said, shaking his head amused as he slapped Dee on his arm in greeting.

Dee pinned Ted in his wrinkled shirt under a zip up hoodie and jeans. "You're one to talk, bud. Let me tell you, after the last week, this is dressed up." He crossed his arms stubbornly, dark green eyes flashing to Drake, daring the other detective to say anything.

"I think you look great, Dee," JJ stated. "May I?"

Dee chuckled. "Sure. Go ahead."

JJ gently patted the swelled which appeared to be bigger to the smaller detective. "Hi there, Chibi. Did you have fun this week too?"

Drake's mouth dropped. "Whoa Dee! Not to get you upset but you're bigger than I last saw you."

Dee's eyes went to Drake as JJ pulled away, smiling. "Duh, growing baby here," he remarked, his hands indicating his swell. "But really I'm not really much bigger than when I left. I think it's only because you didn't see me for almost two weeks. " He lifted his shirt. "See?"

Ryo laughed.

"Dee!" Ted remarked. "There's a lady in the room!"

"Oh, it's nothing that I don't see on my husband," Dana remarked, getting up. "I think it's wonderful." With an amused look, she looked at Ryo. "He's probably like my husband too. One minute showing off, the next acting all shy, trying to hide the bump."

Ryo laughed more, putting his arm around Dee. "Oh, definitely Dee. I see you'll know how to handle him then. Dee, this is your new partner I told you about last night, Dana Jensen. Dana, Dee Laytner-MacLean."

She held her hand out to Dee. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dee. I'm looking forward to working with you. When I was asked if I wanted to join this unit, it was like a dream come true. I know we'll make a difference."

Dee smiled at the petite blond. "Hi Dana. I agree. I was pretty excited when they told me the news. I'm looking forward to it. Of course, best would be if we don't get too busy, if you know what I mean."

"It means then he could slack," Drake called out.

"Fuck you, Drake. Oh… I'm sorry, Dana!"

"That's fine. My husband is in construction and I was in the Navy. Nothing you could say will offend me," Dana assured him.

"Good."

Ryo turned to introduce Dee to Andy and noticed the frown on his younger partner's face.

"That's not politically correct. In sensitivity training, they say there's no tolerance for language like that."

Drake nodded. "I can see that outside, dealing with the public, but it's not all that easy when you see what's out there." He patted Dee on his back. "Glad to have you back, Dee. I see vacation was very good to you."

"Being that the vacation was a honeymoon made it more than just very good," Dee grinned.

"I've seen a lot back in patrol, and with CSU, but I don't swear," Andy stated.

"JJ doesn't either," Ryo pointed out.

JJ shrugged. "I let it roll off me. Most of the time, they get downright funny when they start up, so it's entertainment."

"I don't find it funny," Andy stated. "How many times do I have to tell you that."

"Fine! I'm sorry," Dee snapped. He gave Ryo a glance. Ryo had warned him about Andy when he filled Dee in on the new faces in their unit.

"Being that you're both in charge, I would think you'd be more of an example," Andy said.

"I do make an example," Dee remarked. "Believe me, I've made examples over time." He looked annoyed.

Ryo almost laughed, catching Dee's meaning of making examples of others, and the reason for so many creatively written reports in the past. "Dee, this is my new partner, Andy Rozinsky. Andy, my husband, Dee."

Dee nodded toward Andy, immediately put off by the young detective. He looked around the office. "Where's Diana and the other FBI agent?"

"They're at their headquarters, still ironing out the wrinkles of their inclusion to this unit. Then they're going to run a few things through the FBI database for us," Ted explained as he sat down at his desk.

"I hear that once again, Diana will be handling food with her return," Ryo stated with an impish grin.

"Oh?" Ted asked.

Ryo nodded. "I made her promise when I spoke to her last night." He laughed.

"Cool!" Ted said.

"I think we can all sit down and go over things with Dee before he has to go through the rest of settling in," Ryo said. "Diana and Dom will fill us in on anything new they have when they get back."

"Sounds like a plan," Dee agreed. "Just let me grab my tea and some notes." He leaned over to lightly kiss Ryo's cheek. "I'll get your coffee and notepad."

"Thank you," Ryo said with a smile. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Andy frown again. He shook his head. To everyone else, he said, "Let's get comfortable then."

An hour later, things were winding down. Ryo stood up and stretched. "I think that'll be enough for now," he stated, looking at his watch. "Diana and Dom should be back in an hour or so."

Dee sighed, his eyes flickering to Andy, and then away. It was a good thing Ryo was partnered with the rookie detective and not him. Ryo had better control on his language usually, but while they talked, even a few words that met Andy's disapproval slipped from Ryo's mouth. Particularly since Ryo's favorite word to use referring to the killer was 'bastard', and it came up quite often. As the others filled Dee in to bring him up to par on the case, each time a word that Andy didn't feel was right to say was said, the rookie would have a frown on his face.

Dee stood up too, getting ready to go into the office he shared with Ryo. "An hour or so?" Dee asked. "Dude, I'm fuckin' starving now, dammit."

"I replenished your supply yesterday, remember?" Ryo remarked amused. "I'll get you a yogurt and you can have some pound cake too, if you like."

"I want a SnoBall," Dee remarked. "Several of them. I want to sink my teeth into that gooey marshmallow and chocolate cake and cream."

"I think I saw some in the snack machine, Dee," JJ said.

"Oh? Good, then I'm here," Dee said.

"Does your mouth ever stop?" Andy asked Dee with a deep frown. "Honestly, I would think you would consider keeping your language under control while Carrying that baby. Or do you plan for your kid's first word to be the F-word?"

"Now wouldn't Bikky get a kick outta that shit," Dee stated, making sure he included the last word.

"You don't talk like that around your son, do you?" Andy asked. He looked over to Ryo.

Ryo nodded. "Well, we try not to, but Bikky was a child of the streets too long by the time I took him home, and while he's getting better, I doubt we can completely take the street kid out of him."

"Yup. That's our boy," Dee agreed. "But he's come a long way from the kid Ryo took in. He's a good kid." Dee fixed Andy with a glare. "So don't go dissing him because he says a few bad words here and there."

Andy sniffed and stood up. "Excuse me, but I'm going to find some coffee."

The others watched him walk out of the room.

"I heard he went to Chief and complained about language used around here," Ted remarked.

JJ nodded. "Chief told him to grow up and get back to work."

"Then he went to the Commissioner in the afternoon yesterday," Drake stated. "I don't know what became of that, but obviously we haven't heard anything from Rose yet."

Ryo snorted. The others all looked at him. "Rose told him to get the hell out of his fuckin' office and don't come back unless he's accompanied by one of us."

Marty's mouth dropped. Ted's mouth twitched. JJ pressed his lips together tightly, his cheeks puffing out slightly. Drake covered his mouth. Dana couldn't quite his her snicker.

Dee burst out in laughter. The others joined Dee, all of them having a good laugh.

When they were all laughed out, Ryo placed his arm around Dee's waist. "Time for you to go inside and see what reports are waiting for you."

"Reports!" Dee cried out, not entirely in mock terror. "I wanna go back to the Bahamas."

Ryo looked back at the others who laughed again and winked. "Dana, in a little while, he'll be all yours to start going over your cases."

"Should we let you know when the food gets here?" JJ asked.

Ryo lifted his free hand and gave JJ the thumbs up before he guided Dee all the way into their office, closing the door behind them.

Not more than a half hour later, Ryo's extension rang. After a few quick uh huhs, he hung up the phone. Dee was staring at Ryo as the other man stood up casually and sauntered over to stand by Dee.

"Dee, come on. Chief and Rose want to give you the official run down of while we've been gone."

Dee studied Ryo with intense dark green eyes. "Hm?" Noticing Ryo's face, he added, "What's wrong?"

"Well…" Ryo took a deep breath. "Dee, I'm sorry, but there were some things I was told that I was not at liberty to tell you last night."

"What?" Dee stood up, glaring at Ryo. "What things?"

"Come on and you'll find out. This is not something I could talk about at home. It was an order, and I'll have to admit I understand the reasoning. Which is why I waited until today. Chief got me nice and early yesterday and they're doing the same for you." Ryo caressed Dee's arm before turning to start heading out of the office.

Dee realized he had no choice but to follow his husband out of the office and followed Ryo. "Okay, so why did you just get Chief yesterday?" he demanded as he caught up to walk next to Ryo.

"Because something came up yesterday that the Commissioner had no choice but to take care of. Otherwise he would have been with Chief yesterday." Ryo glanced at Dee and tried giving him a teasing smile. "What's the big deal anyway? Less than a year ago, you would have been complaining because I'm certain Rose would have made himself available for a meeting with just me, and disappeared when it was your turn. Should I be getting jealous."

Dee snorted. "Not on your life. You might have noticed that I married you, not him. Heaven forbid," he stated. "Perish all thoughts of me and Rose from that pretty head of yours before you make me nauseous."

Ryo giggled, thankful to get Dee in a better mood before the bad news was told. "Gone already. I was making myself sick."

"Thank goodness," Dee sighed as Ryo came to stop before Chief Smith's office door.

Ryo knocked on the door.

Before he had a chance to grasp the doorknob, they head the Chief grump, "Come in."

Ryo opened the door and held it for Dee.

"Ah Dee. Welcome back from your honeymoon," Commissioner Rose greeted from his spot, which was a corner of the Chief's desk. "Good morning Ryo. I trust the rest of your first day back was good."

"It's good to be back, sir," Ryo replied.

"Diana told me you had a lovely time in the Bahamas," he said, his eyes going to Dee.

"It was a great place for a getaway," Dee replied. "But it's good to be back in the city. And at work." He smirked, his eyes going from the Commissioner to the Chief. "As hard as you might believe that."

Rose chuckled.

"Sit down, you two," Chief ordered. "And welcome back, Dee. I take it you met your temporary partner?"

"Dana? Yes. I think we'll work well together. Not as well as me and Ryo, but well enough to do more than just a decent job."

"That's good."

As Ryo sat next to Dee, he noticed a Starbucks cup sitting on the other side of Chief's desk from the Commissioner.

"I understand you made my husband lie to me last night," Dee remarked.

Chief shrugged. "Not exactly lie. More like omit information. It's better you hearing this officially."

Dee peered at the Chief, then over at Rose. What he found in their faces caused him to frown. "What is it? What happened?" he asked, realizing both men appeared nervous. Something Dee would never have thought to see, especially with them having something to tell him.

"Well Dee," the Commissioner started, "we don't want you to take this the wrong way."

Dee started to look confused. He looked at Ryo, hoping to get some answers from his husband's answering gaze. Instead, Ryo glanced away, looking uncomfortable.

Ryo gaze wavered for no more than a second or two before his attention went back to Dee, placing a hand on the dark haired detective's shoulder. "Dee, hear them out before doing anything rash. Okay?"

Dee started to scowl. "Okay, pass on the bullshit and get to the point," he demanded of all three men in the office with him.

Rose picked up a manila folder. He opened the flap but did not put his hand in it as he started to talk. "One of the victims found on your wedding day came with a bonus," he explained.

"Bonus?" Dee snapped. "Come now, Commissioner. You could do better than that, sir."

Rose came around the desk to stand before Dee. "This is difficult because this is going to upset you. Just promise me we'll think of the baby and let us finish what we have to say. Okay?"

Dee's eyes met the Commissioner. He hesitated on making any promises. He felt Ryo's hand that was still on his shoulder give an encouraging squeeze. The simple action reminded him that he was not alone in whatever it was. He had a husband to consider, along with a baby on the way. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself before he nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Fine." Rose handed the envelope to Dee. "Our killer decided to make a demand. One we have no intention of giving into him."

Dee removed the photos of the note.

The three men watched the play of emotions on the pregnant man's face. First his eyes went wide with shock, then he paled. A deep frown followed as he got his color back. Finally as he turned to stare hopelessly at Ryo, the horror of realizing the full implication sank in. He paled again.

"Oh my God," he croaked past suddenly dry lips, his eyes fixed on the photos in his hand.

Chief stood up, carrying the Starbucks cup Ryo had noticed. The Chief handed Ryo the cup, his eyes indicating Dee.

Ryo nodded, accepting the cup. The aroma of fresh chamomile wafted up to his nose. Meanwhile Dee was doing his best to keep breathing against his rising horror.

Ryo held the cup out to Dee. "Drink this, Dee," he spoke, somehow sounding calm. Inside he was raging with anger at the Carrier killer, and filled with fear of what could happen if they did not get Dee to calm down.

Dee reached for the cup with a shaky hand. Ryo ended up helping his husband take a sip. After urging Dee to take a couple of deep breaths as they had learned when they took the partner pregnancy yoga classes during their honeymoon, he managed to get Dee to have another drink. He made sure he maintain hold on the cup, watching for signs of when to offer more to his husband.

"Dee, we're all standing behind you," Chief assure the distraught man as Dee's eyes went back to the photos again.

When he finally looked up to face his superior, his face still held the horror to the truth he had come to, while his eyes flashed with pure fury.

"They're dead because of me," he finally spoke, his voice lower than normal for Dee.

"Because of the killer, Dee," Chief corrected.

"Five men and five fetuses – innocent unborn babies – died because of me." His eyes went from Chief to Rose. "Why?"

"Our killer is a sick bastard," Rose stated. "Anyone who could commit such atrocities as he had done has no scruples. This son of a bitch is among the worse of the worse criminals out there. It's him, Dee. Not you."

Dee shook his head. "Bad enough I would have had two deaths on my hands, but there's more now. How come you didn't say anything? Why did you let it happen again?" Dee sounded anguished and infuriated. His voice continued to rise as he continued to speak. "And how fuckin' long do you have to make the announcement finally before four more die?"

Rose shook his head firmly. "I can't let you do that, Dee. I'm not letting him tell us what to do." Rose pointed a finger at Dee. "He is not making the rules. We are. That's an order, Dee."

"I KILLED THEM!!!" Dee roared, his face going red.

"The killer did, Dee," Ryo stated forcefully, realizing Dee had to calm down soon or it could be dangerous to Dee and the baby. He pushed past Rose to grasp Dee firmly by his shoulders. "Not you! This is not your fault, Dee."

"It is, dammit!" Dee stood up abruptly, the envelopes and photos falling to the ground. He pulled his shield out from a pocket of his cargo pants and threw it at Rose. "This has to stop! Right now! I quit!"

"Dee!" Ryo yelled, even if he was not surprised by his husband's action.

Dee looked at Ryo. "I can't do it, Ryo. If it means more people will die, I can't stay on. I'm sorry."

"Dee," Chief Smith called out, coming from behind his desk. "Do you honestly thing this is going to take care of the problem?"

Dee nodded.

Ryo moved closer, putting his arm around Dee. "Seriously, Dee. Think. You've been a detective long enough to know the truth."

"I have to try, Ryo."

"I honestly do not believe that your quitting the force is going to stop the killing, Dee," Rose stated. "Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you believe that our killer is going to go off into the sunset, and no one else will die? Do you really believe that, Dee?"

"I don't know!" Dee cried out anguished. He ran his hand through his hair. "All I know is that even if he doesn't stop, then maybe there won't be 4 dead this week. And five the next. At least let me try to slow the killings, if not stop them." Dee's eyes fixed on Rose's. There was a conviction in them. "I need to do this, Commissioner. I need to know that I did all I could to keep at least one Carrier alive, who otherwise might die because of me."

"Dee, you want to do all you could?" Chief Smith said. "Then you take your badge back, get back there with your unit and find the killer. That's the only way to stop this, Dee. If you quit, then he wins."

"Don't…" Dee started, pointing his finger at the Chief. "Don't try to feed me that crap."

"It's not crap, Dee," Ryo insisted. "The Chief is right. The only way to stop this is to find him. And our best chance is if we all are working on this together. If you quit, there's one less on this case."

"Then find another, 'cause I'm done," Dee snapped. He pulled away from Ryo and headed for the door.

"Dee, you need to calm down," Ryo insisted, not liking the color Dee turned. It reminded him of that time when they fought.

"I'm going to take a shower," Dee said from the door. "This is going to help me, Ryo. Knowing I'm doing what I feel is right. I'll see you in a bit when I'm ready to go home." He opened the door to the office and walked out, slamming it behind him.

Ryo sighed, sagging against the wall. "That went exactly how I expected."

Rose nodded as he walked to where Dee's badge was on the floor. "I assume you're going to let him take his shower?" he asked as he picked up Dee's badge.

"Yeah," Ryo replied. "I'm thinking to let him believe he's getting his way for now, and a cold shower should prevent him from needing to go to the hospital. I'll check on him in a few minutes."

"Of course." Rose came over and handed Ryo the badge. "Plan B. Let him believe he's not on the force. You can safekeep this for him."

Ryo took the badge from the Commissioner, giving him a grateful look. "Thank you, sir."

"When you go check on Dee," Chief Smith said, "tell him that we still need him to stick around for a while so he could give Sgt. Carey his statement for the press release."

Ryo looked over to the Chief in question.

"Well, you don't expect us to put words in his mouth, do you?" He gave Ryo a grin.

"Oh. Of course, you're correct in that, Chief. I'll tell him. I should go." Ryo pocketed Dee's badge and went for the door.

"Randy, would you mind closing that door with a little less force than Dee?" Chief asked.

Ryo snorted. "I don't think the glass will withstand another slam like that. I'll check in with you later. Chief, Commissioner." Ryo gave them a salute and started to leave.

"Ryo," Rose called out.

Ryo turned back. "Commissioner?"

"Tell Dee that while Chief Smith and I are no longer his superiors, we're still his friends, and that he can call us anytime he needs," Rose stated.

Ryo gave the Commissioner a small smile. "I will. Thank you, sir."

The two men watched as Ryo left the office. Chief sat down heavily behind his desk. "Randy was right."

Rose nodded. "That did go exactly how we expected it." He sat down in one of the chairs formerly occupied by Dee and Ryo, and looked over to the Chief. "Warren, I do believe Dee was more angry than upset. I take that as a good sign. I don't believe we'll have to play out this little charade for too long."

"I hope not."

"Well, since I'm here, Warren, shall we discuss what should we do about Detective Rozinsky's complaints against his co-workers?"

"You mean other than having the others have to walk on eggshells?"

"I'm willing to make them monitor how they act when they are with citizens. I might even suggest a sensitivity training course for the entire unit," Rose suggested. "But I'm afraid that if we give in completely to the complaints, then I'll have an entire precinct on egg shells. No, it's not politically correct. But I have to deal with enough of that with the brass." He snorted. "Hell, even the mayor uses quite a few words that will make the rookie complain."

"Sensitivity training is a start. We need to let him know we're doing something about the situation before he goes running off to bring the hammer down on all our heads. It's a damn wonder he didn't complain about me," Chief snorted.

"You're worse than the lot of them," Rose agreed with a smile. "And he did. He clumped you into the complaint. Unfortunately, he caught me at a wrong moment and he most probably has a complaint about me now."

"We have no choice but to come to some sort of conclusion."

"Yes. We do."

The Rose pulled the chair closer to the Chief's desk, and together they started to hash out a tentative game plan.

Ryo took the time to make some tea before going to the locker room. He heard the water running, saw Dee's clothes on a bench and his locker open. He set the mug down on the bench next to Dee's clothing, and took off his clothes, grabbing one of Dee's extra towels. He went over to the showers.

He peeked in to see Dee standing under a stream of water, his eyes closed and leaning against the wall.

"Dee," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"

Dee opened his eyes. "How do you think I'm feeling?"

Ryo was studying Dee's skin tone, relieved to see that while it was still flushed it wasn't the type of red that meant danger. He took a step in the shower room. "I meant physically, with the overheating situation."

Dee sighed. "It's fine."

Ryo moved closer to Dee, just watching him. He wasn't surprised when a sob escaped from the other man.

"But physically," Dee continued. "Still not good. Damn, that was like a sharp blow somewhere. My head hurts, my stomach's in an uproar and… I… feel empty."

"It was your choice, you know."

Dee glanced at Ryo. "And if it was you, your choice would have been different?"

Ryo shook his head. "Nope. I'd have done the same thing. Which means I have a good idea how you're feeling about it now. The same that I would have."

"I had to do it, Ryo."

Ryo remained quiet.

"If I didn't, there will be five Carriers killed this weekend."

Ryo sighed. "Dee, you're not thinking clearly. So if you want to go home and rest, I'm sure I can check out a car and take you home."

"I've never thought more clearly."

Ryo moved to stand next to Dee, leaning against the wall. "Dee, think. I know there's more facts than when we left, but can you name me one victim that was a fresh kill? I mean that was dead for less than a day."

Dee turned his head to Ryo, his eyes widening with horror.

Ryo hated to do this, but he had to try, and was willing to deal with clean up.

"Oh God," Dee whispered hoarsely. "It's fuckin' Thursday."

Ryo nodded, putting a hand on Dee's arm.

"It's too late," Dee croaked. "There's at least one or two, maybe all five… already dead."

"It's not your fault, Dee," Ryo tried again. "It was a nice try on our killer's behalf to get a Carrier off the force, but I don't believe for a moment he's stopping the killing until he hears word that you are no longer a cop." He struggled to keep his voice even, steady and calm. "You happened to be the scapegoat, Dee. The killings had already started and then he saw you at the press conference. He remembered it for when he decided to make some more publicity. Sensationalism. Maybe gloat that he's cleaning up the world in more ways than not. If he didn't notice you, then he would have found someone else to pick on. You know, a doctor or a nurse. A school teacher." Ryo shrugged. "Who knows. Now that he got you to quit, he'll start demanding for more. Have Carrier teachers lose their jobs and so on. The killings will increase again until someone else steps down, and it'll keep going on and on." Ryo clenched Dee's arm tightly, pushing himself off the wall to face Dee, dark intense eyes looking up at Dee. "It's never going to stop until we get his ass where it belongs. In jail." Ryo snorted. "Fuck, I want to see him dead. I want to be the one pulling the trigger. I want to for you. For all the others who will end up jobless because of his demands. For all those he killed." Ryo's voice was rising. "For everything he has done, dammit!" He shook Dee's arm, gripping it tighter. He felt Dee's arm go around his waist and realized he finally had eye contact with the taller man. "But I can't. He can't die. Not yet." Ryo laughed coldly. "Because that'll be the easy way for him. The only thing that will stop me from pulling the trigger if I ever have my chance is because I want to look him in the eye and laugh at him. Taunt him, remind him that he's not a God and has no right to judge and decide who lives and who dies. Who's more superior. He's weak. Weaker than you, Dee. It takes a weak person to do what he's doing. Dangerous, yes. But the weaker ones always are." Ryo's gaze penetrated Dee's, looking deep past dark green eyes and into the soul of the man he loved. "You're stronger, Dee. Much much stronger than him." He clenched his teeth, releasing Dee's arm and placing his hand flat on Dee's chest. "Which is why it pisses me off that you let that bastard win. Not this round, but opened the door to win all the other rounds after you."

Ryo pushed away from Dee, out of his arm, still glaring. "Dee, I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul, and nothing, not even today will change that. I'll always be your husband and looking forward to raising our baby. But…." His fists clenched as his eyes turned stormy. "I never took you for a quitter. I never thought you'd be so weak as to give in as easily as you did. I guess I was wrong about some things about you. That's okay, Dee. I still love you."

Ryo started to walk out of the room, not quite yet realizing that he did not follow through with his original plan of placating and soothing Dee. He looked over his shoulder, eyes pinning the still man against the wall still under the cold running water. "Did you think about us? We were depending on both our paychecks with the baby coming. And if you can find something you could do as well as you're a detective, do you really expect to get hired at this point of pregnancy? Oh well. We'll get by. I'll borrow from my grandparents, and you can be a house husband until you have the baby and ready to go back to work."

Ryo walked out of the shower room. Only when he noticed the mug of tea on the bench did it hit him what he had done. He dropped heavily on the bench, resting his elbows on his legs and burying his face in his hands. 'Oh my God,' he thought. 'What did I just do?' Still he could not find it in himself to back down now that he threw down the gauntlet to Dee.

He sat with his face buried in his hands for a few minutes, listening for signs of distress that could mean danger to Dee. There was nothing. Just a sob, and the sound of water running. Five minutes later, he heard the water go off.

Ryo was staring at the lockers when Dee approached, a towel wrapped around his waist. He noticed that his husband was still naked, not thinking to put on a towel.

Ryo picked up the mug and handed it to Dee without looking.

"Thanks."

"I forgot to tell you that the Commissioner and Chief want you to hang around a bit to speak to Sgt. Carey and give him your statement. They want you to have your say in the official press release on your quitting," Ryo stated, still not looking at Dee.

Dee sighed heavily for a reply, and Ryo heard him take a drink from the tea.

"They also said that you shouldn't forget that they are still your friends and to call whenever you need." Ryo stood up, grabbing his boxers and started to put them on.

"I don't want to make a statement for a press release," Dee remarked.

"They don't want to fill your mouth with words, either, Dee. It's best this way. So let's get dressed, see if we can locate Carey and then when you're done, I'll take you home." He started to put on his pants.

"I want a press conference."

Ryo lifted his head. "What? Do you want to make him feel that important?"

Dee shook his head as he put the mug down and grabbed his own boxers. He grinned at the sight of Ryo halfway in putting on his pants, staring up at him.

The fire was back in Dee's eyes. The intensity, the fight. He picked up the mug and casually took another drink. "I want to make him feel like the slug that he is."

Ryo looked confused.

"Finish dressing, hubby," Dee said with a chuckle. He had another sip and started to get dressed.

"Dee?"

"I want to have a press conference so everyone knows that Dee Laytner-MacLean doesn't bend to anyone. Especially fuckers like him."

"Dee?"

"You're right, Ryo. About everything. About needing a job, and how hard it will be right now. And as much as I'm settling into this pregnancy thing, I'm not really cut out to be a house husband, no matter how much I love you. But most important, you're right about him. He's already killed for this week and my quitting today can't bring that back. I don't want those deaths to be in vain. So," Dee grinned roguishly at Ryo, "I want him to know that I am stronger than he is. A better person and that he's weak. Who knows? Maybe I might piss him off enough to come out of hiding and do something stupid to trip him up."

"Dee, I don't want you to put yourself out there as bait," Ryo warned. "Just don't back down."

"You want me to be a detective? Then let me do what it takes to be a detective. I promise you I won't do anything stupid. Hell, I doubt Rose will allow me to anyway. But I already have his attention. Why not use it to our advantage?"

Ryo studied Dee, and knew he had no chance in making Dee change his mind on that. It was all his fault. For pointing out the truth to Dee in the shower. Dee was strong. Dee was the strongest man Ryo knew in the places that counted.

He found himself being pushed up against the lockers and kissed passionately. "Thank you," Dee said tenderly when he broke the kiss, leaving Ryo feeling weak-kneed. "I trust only you to dare go where no one else could with me. I'm a better man because of you." He kissed Ryo again.

Ryo put his arms around Dee's neck and kissed him back. "So am I, Dee," he sighed into the kiss.

The two men broke off the kiss when they heard someone cough. They both looked to find Hernandez and Ferguson standing a few feet away.

"Oh God, the newlyweds are now breaking in the locker room!" Hernandez remarked in mock horror.

"I'm afraid to ask if they hit the showers already?" Ferguson asked.

Hernandez shrugged with a grin. "Who knows. But from the looks of things here, a cold shower wouldn't be a good idea."

Dee laughed, pulling away from Ryo to gather his belongings and place them back in his locker. Ryo was buttoning his shirt and tucking it in his pants.

"We were just on our way out, dudes," Dee stated, securing his locker.

Ryo put on his jacket and shoved his tie in his jacket pocket. As he did, his fingers brushed along Dee's badge.

Dee picked up the mug of tea and took Ryo's hand in his free one, starting to lead them past the two police officers to the door. "Excuse us, gentlemen," Dee said with a teasing smile. "Oh, and what makes you think we didn't break in this area before the wedding?" He winked and grinned as he walked on.

Ryo blushed as he found himself being pulled along by Dee.

Instead of going directly to Chief Smith's office, Ryo diverted them into their office. Once behind the closed door, Ryo pulled Dee into a kiss.

"Do what you need to do, Dee," Ryo said when he broke the kiss, grinning when he realized Dee looked like he was feeling the same he had back in the locker room while Dee kissed him. "I trust you in keeping yourself safe. Besides, he'll have to get past me first. And I have no intention of going down."

Dee smiled. "I believe you." He lightly kissed Ryo. "Thank you."

"One more thing," Ryo said. "Chief and Rose were not so willing to let you go easily. You should know that."

"I guess."

"That is why they gave him this after you left the office. In case you should ever have a change of heart." Ryo removed Dee's badge from his jacket pocket and reverently placed it in Dee's hand. "Don't you ever do that again." He patted Dee's hand, smiling up at him. "Besides, I don't think you know how to be anything other than a detective."

For a reply, Dee pulled Ryo into another kiss.. They kissed until there was a knock on the door going into the squad room.

"Yoo-hoo lovebirds," Diana called through the locked door. "Food is here."

Dee rolled his eyes and groaned, while Ryo giggled. Ryo gave Dee a quick kiss. "You better go tell Chief that you're back. Meanwhile I'll save some food for you from the savages." He rolled his eyes. "Except for Andy, of course."

Dee laughed. "I'm on it. I'll be right back."

Ryo watched until Dee left the office before he went into the squad room. By the time Dee joined them, their late breakfast turned into a celebration because Dee was still with them on the force.

And in doing whatever it took to find the Carrier killer.


	34. Press Conference

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 34 - Press Conference  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.  
A/N: Muses gone wild! Two chapters today! And I'm about to start another. The muses aren't going to let me go until it's done.

March 24, 2006

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Drake asked Ryo as they stood inside the room designated for Dee to get ready for the press conference. Currently, Dee was across the room, grumping about the hair stylish who did his hair all wrong and how they used more than just a light coat of stage make-up.

"Relax Dee," Ryo said instead, looking over to Dee. "It looks fine. A little different from how you slick your hair back. And honestly the make-up is no different than the last time."

"She used mascara this time," Dee complained, looking himself over in the mirror. "Do I look like I need mascara?"

"Nope. Have to agree with you there," Ryo remarked with a grin. "Because you have the longest, darkest eyelashes I've ever seen."

"They're clumping!"

"Stop fussing with it, Dee," Ryo stated. He cast an apologetic look to Drake and went over to grab a tissue and stand by Dee, turning the distraught man around to face him. "Try to stay still, will you?"

Dee was smiling as Ryo gently removed as much as the mascara as he could. "There. Much better." Ryo winked at Dee. "You do have gorgeous lashes."

Dee batted said lashes at Ryo. "Thank you."

Despite his reservations, Drake had to laugh at the two. "Okay you clowns, cut it out."

"I was just testing to make sure they don't stick together like they were doing," Dee remarked amused.

Ryo started to fuss with Dee's suit, making sure it draped over his shoulders the right way, the buttons of the double breasted Carrier jacket were centered within the buttonholes and that the front of the jacket draped just right over the bump. Dee remained still, enjoying the attention. Ryo adjusted Dee's tie and smoothed the shirt collar. "You look wonderful," Ryo stated, and lightly kissed Dee's lips before moving back a step to continue to study his husband.

Dee had one of the better suits that was bought by Estelle. It was dark green/black fine pinstripes, with a double breasted jacket and pants that, to Dee's relief, zipped up and closed just under the belly.

"Stunning," Ryo remarked with a grin. "And I'm lucky enough to call you my husband."

Dee grinned back at Ryo. "I'm glad I'm still sexy to you."

"Always, Dee."

Dee winked. "Give it another month. There's already enough of a bump here."

"You'll see."

Drake cleared his throat. "Ahem, dudes. But I just got the message that Dee needs to start making his way down."

Ryo laughed and held out his hand to take Dee's. "Go wow 'em, Dee."

Dee nodded, taking out the notes he had prepared with the PR Chief that morning.

When they got down to join the others near the door Dee was to make an entrance, Ryo took advantage of the fussing and last minute attention Dee was getting before he once more stood in front of the cameras and pulled Drake aside. They both laughed as Dee batted JJ from touching his tie. Once Ryo gave his attention to detail on Dee's suit, Dee was not about to let anyone undo what was done.

"Look, I'm a nervous wreck here, but I'm glad it's not showing. But we all went over this. If there's a chance Dee can piss off our bad guy enough to slip up, then Dee's doing his job. I'm prepared to do what it takes to keep Dee safe. And I trust the rest of you to keep him safe too."

"Of course we will. Dee's our priority, besides finally getting handcuffs on the killer," Drake commented.

"Anyway, Dee made another point. We're taking control of the situation. Instead of sitting around and wondering if he'll strike at Dee, we're calling him out. At least we hope."

"I hope so too."

A plainclothes officer from the NYPD media department who helped stage publicity events came over to guide Ryo over to Dee's side. "Once I give the signal, you are to enter with your husband. While he goes over to the podium, you're to go off to the side a little, but remain a few feet from him. Dana, since she's now Dee's partner will follow you two out, and then the rest of the unit." He glanced around assuring everyone was getting in place. This time, the unit included Diana and Dominic. There were other FBI agents roaming the area, along with cops in uniform and plainclothes. "Remember that this is not only about Detective Laytner-MacLean standing up to the killer, but it's about solidarity and unity among the NYPD."

Drake sighed. "Even if it sometimes feels like it's just our unit."

"It's the naysayers that usually get the most attention," the officer from Media officer stated. "Don't let it fool you. There's more behind you than you think."

Ryo nodded. "Dee got an interesting phone call just before lunch. He's supposed to follow up on it this weekend." He looked over at Dee. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Remember, we already concluded that there's going to be a dump no matter what you say. Right?" Ryo asked.

"I'm ready, Ryo." Dee clenched the notes in his hand with a look on conviction on his face. "Believe me, I'm ready."

Applause filled the room on the other side of the door as the Media officer grinned. "It's showtime." He opened the door and stepped aside for Dee and Ryo to enter to applause and cameras flashing.

Unlike the first press conference, Ryo immediately located his aunt and uncle in the front row. Dee waved to the crowd, waiting for them to settle down and winked at Elena and Rick in the interim.

When he received the cue, he spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday upon returning from my honeymoon with my new husband," he paused to look over to Ryo before giving the audience his attention again, "I found out that there was a demand to resign as a detective in the NYPD. Why? Because I'm having a baby, and because I'm a man. It certainly put a damper on the post honeymoon glow, let me tell you." He looked out at the assembled members of the press, making eye contact with as many as he could in the brief pause. "For a little while. You see, the only thing I know is how to be an officer of the law, to protect and serve. I can't see myself doing anything else when it's in my blood. It's my passion." He paused again to make more eye contact. "It's my passion," he slowly repeated again, going away from the prompt card on the podium and speaking from his heart, "to protect as many of you, your families and children as I possibly can." Murmurs of approval and some applause caused Dee to pause again. When he spoke, he went back to the cards. "So to the Carrier Killer who dared to demand of the NYPD that they let me go, I have this to say. I'm here. I'm having this baby. And believe me when I say, I'll see you in the interrogation room when we finally have you off the streets and within the justice system." It was pure Dee Laytner who spoke the last few lines, his passion, his roguish cutting edge street style and Dee at his most defiant. The words he spoke were on the card, but they were memorized and as planned, delivered in his unique way. "No one makes demands on the NYPD. I would betraying everyone in blue if I backed down tonight. The NYPD does not allow killers to make their rules. NYPD makes the rules as they carry out the law and bring justice to this city. Remember that."

The planned pause went longer as people stood to their feet, applauding and cheering. Representatives from not only local, but national GBLT media were present and they were almost the loudest, publicly backing the pregnant detective. Many others raised their voices to lay the same claim. The single one person who made the most noise of approval was Elena, with Rick clapping wildly. Dee stayed silent for a few more seconds at the prompt of the Media officer to allow for photo ops since except for the first blinding lights of flashes, the photographers choose to cheer.

Sgt. Carey nodded, giving Dee the approval to continue. "Thank you," Dee stated, humbly. "But before we go any further, you all should be aware of the price that will be paid with this announcement. We are prepared to find five more victims within the next week. However, we are also of the belief, because of official ME reports on our previous victims that even should we collar the perp tonight, we will still find bodies. Apparently they are killed in advance and waiting for the dump."

Disapproving murmurs went about the room, none directed at Dee, but at the audacity of the killer.

Dee continued to speak, mostly following the cards set on the podium before him. This time his speech was stronger. He was allowed to use words as 'hell' and 'damn' and whatever else could be used in all forms of media. He allowed himself to get angry, and to taunt the killer. He spoke more of the note, and the victims since. He went on to talk about what they knew of Carriers Inc. The game plan was that if they couldn't bring the killer out in anger of Dee telling the press as much about the case as they dared, then at the very least, Carriers would be warned about the website, and hopefully putting the killer out of commission long enough for them to find him without many more victims.

The press conference was mid-afternoon. Dee was not as tired as he was at the first press conference. Instead of it being at the end of a very long day, it was in the middle of his day. When he was finished with the speech, and they opened the mics for questions from the press, they allowed the conference to go on until the last reporter was satisfied.

It was an hour later when Commissioner Rose stepped up to stand besides Dee. "If there's no more questions, Detective Laytner-MacLean is anxious to get back to his real work. So let's give him a round of applause for taking the time, and once again speaking about something that is very important to him."

More applause and flashes went off. Dee grinned roguishly at the cameras. Instead of going for the sympathy vote like the previous press conference, Dee went for the heart of any decent person, as well as appearing as a pillar of strength and courage, of conviction. He represented the NYPD as one of the finest of the finest.

As the Commissioner stated, after the conference, the members of the CHCI went back to the 27th Precinct to finish their day, going out on interviews, looking over the files looking for anything that might have been missed. Ted searched other police departments in the tri-state area online, looking for other possible cases. Dominic and Diana went through the missing persons, pulling names of Carriers and opening files for them. If a Carrier was among the missing persons, if was their task to find him. For local people on the list, the files were put on Dee's desk to start interviewing family and friends in the first attempts to locate the missing Carrier. There were currently 8 files in the basket designated for that particular file, and Dee and Dana were making lists on where to start with each one. Ryo and Andy going over the victims' files with Drake and JJ. Marty went over to the Bronx headquarters with Jim to pick up whatever there was for Jim to bring back to his labs and analyze.

* * *

It was 3:55 when Dee's extension rang. He looked up from a discussion with Dana, going over their plans for first thing the next morning. "Excuse me," he stated, picking up the phone. Ryo looked up from his notes, noting his rookie partner continued to work on, sitting in the chair pulled to the side of Ryo's desk.

Dee shrugged at Ryo as he answered the phone. In another five minutes, they were to call it a day and get ready to go home. Dee had to admit he was not ready yet. The day before, aside from the short period of trauma was mostly settling back into routine, getting filled in on cases that went on without him, getting to know his new partner, and working with her on how they plan to run their responsibilities. That day had been really back to work for Dee, not only from his honeymoon, but back in a way he had not been for months. It felt good to Dee. He felt revitalized and full of energy. He felt useful. He felt like a detective again. If he could get away with it, he would have preferred to call a break for dinner and return. Unfortunately Ryo would not allow it. Worse, Ryo had the Commissioner and Chief Smith backing him up.

So as he noted the caller ID, he was curious why Rose would be calling him.

"What can I do for you, Commissioner?" Dee asked.

"Dee, I know you and Ryo are scheduled to go off duty in five minutes, but can we have a brief meeting in my office. Nothing bad, I assure you."

Dee chuckled. "We'll be right down. As soon as we cut everyone else loose." Dee hung up the phone. "Dana, get out of here and cuddle up to your husband."

Dana smiled at Dee. "I love how you think. So we have a game plan for tomorrow?"

"Yup. That we do. Have a good evening, Dana. And I'm really pleased to be working with you."

Dana's smile got wider. "It's an honor to be working with you, Dee Laytner-MacLean. I feel like I'm partners with a legend."

"Please," Ryo groaned. "Don't swell his head anymore than it is. I have to go home with him, unlike you."

Dana laughed and looked at Ryo. "Oh go on. One look at your face and anyone can tell how proud you are of your husband."

"Aw dammit, busted," Ryo grumped good naturedly.

"Good night, Ryo. Enjoy your day off, Andy," Dana said. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, Dee."

Andy waved as she left.

"Andy, you could go too."

"I'm still working on this preliminary," Andy started to protest.

"All reports for this week are due by noon on Monday," Dee spoke up, "now scat. Ryo and I need to see the Commissioner."

Andy stood up, gathering his paperwork.

"Leave it, Andy. It's neat enough," Ryo stated, eying the stack that was in front of his partner. It looked like paper right out of the package, it was so neatly fixed. Andy was carefully placing the paper he was working on at the top. Ryo's eyes flickered to his own paperwork. The out basket had a small pile of papers and folders sitting the way they were dropped. The in basket had a haphazard pile that did not seem to go down no matter how hard Ryo had concentrated on it during the last three days. There were folders and envelopes and papers in another pile in the middle of his desk.

"Good night, Ryo. Dee."

Dee waved to the rookie as he sauntered over to Ryo's desk.

"Night Andy," Ryo called out. "Enjoy your day off with your son." Ryo stood up as Andy left. "What's up?"

Dee shrugged. "Dunno. He just said that it's nothing bad but he needs to speak to us."

"How about making him wait a few minutes while we get ready to go home?"

"Well…"

Ryo laughed. "Is this really the man who would watch the seconds tick away to this time?"

Dee grinned ruefully. "It's just good to be back and all."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, it shows. You've been glowing this afternoon and more than just from the baby."

"Janet said I seem to be doing more of that too."

Ryo laughed as they gathered their things. As they were getting ready to leave the office for the night, Ryo paused by his desk. He stared down at Andy's pile. "Nah."

"Go on," Dee remarked with a devilish grin. "You know you want to."

"I couldn't."

"If you say. Let's go."

Before Ryo made a move to follow Dee, his hand swept out, scattering the pile. "Oops."

Dee laughed. "Blame it on the cleaning crew on Monday."

* * *

"So it wasn't just me," Drake remarked, amused.

Marty shook his head. "Nope. Not just you. Ryo's put on a little weight. He's getting a little pooch."

"Aw, I think it's adorable," JJ said.

"Yeah, we know. You like Buddha bellies," Ted quipped, managing to tease both JJ and Drake with a single one-liner.

Drake put on a confused face, while JJ frowned at Ted, afraid that once again, teasing could lead to another argument between him and the man he was dating. JJ pushed that out of his head before he started to fume on not feeling it was right to call Drake his boyfriend, or lover. Definitely not a lover yet.

JJ turned his thoughts back to his original comment. "You know that means?"

"Yeah," Ted snorted. "Ryo's going for Chief."

JJ shook his head, but chuckled anyway. "If he doesn't get a reign on it, he might."

"Couvade syndrome," Marty remarked, wincing.

"Wha?" Ted asked. "Speak English, man."

JJ laughed.

"Oh holy shit!" Drake remarked. "I remember Darla's last pregnancy. Marty decided to join her."

"It happens. Especially to close couples," Marty explained.

"Does this mean Ryo's gonna have to go shopping for Carrier clothes too?" Ted asked with a snicker.

Everyone got quiet as the door to Ryo and Dee's office open. Dana entered and went over to her desk. "Quitting time everyone," she announced.

"Outstanding," Marty remarked.

Andy joined them and quietly packed away his things. "Good night," he said as he left the office.

Dana shook her head. "Night everyone. See most of you in the morning."

Before the long time partners got a chance to start talking about Ryo again, the two leading detectives entered. "Get outta here everyone," Dee announced. "Drake and JJ, you have first call, if needed. Marty, you and Ted have second. Let's hope it's quiet tonight."

Drake's phone rang. "Oh crap." He answered it, taking down notes. Dee and Ryo waited as Ted and Marty got ready to leave.

"What's up?" Ryo asked, putting his arm around Dee.

"It's started," Drake said tensely. "JJ, no going home for us just yet."

"That's fine. Let's get going."

"Where?" Dee asked.

"The Pathmark at Pike Slip downtown," Drake stated.

"That's our Pathmark," Dee remarked, nervously.

"My guess it's not so much that it's the one you shop at, but probably opportunity arose to make the dump at this time of the day, rather than wait until the middle of the night," JJ thought out.

"You believe that?" Ryo asked. "That this one was dumped after the press conference?"

Drake looked up from his notes. "The body is in the loading bay. Currently there are no trucks in the bay."

Dee's mouth hung open.

"He's pissed," JJ said. "I was hoping for a dump before the middle of the night."

"You know what else that means, right?" Ryo asked. "We're right. He must have bodies on ice and…." Ryo's eyes went wide. "Oh holy shit! How could we miss that. Dee, I'm dropping you off and then I'm joining you guys at the scene."

Dee shook his head. "No. I'm staying here. I'll be with Jim. You might be onto something."

"What?" Drake asked.

"Bodies on ice," Dee repeated. "How the fuck else could he hold bodies without neighbors smelling something to give it away?"

"Drake and I were on the assumption that maybe he has a shack away from the city, with no neighbors," JJ said. "After all, we discussed how there were no complaints of disturbance or domestic violence leading patrol to our killer."

Ryo nodded. "That's one possibility that we're not dismissing."

"Right," JJ said. "So wanna ride with us, Ryo?"

"I can't. Dee and I have to meet with the Commissioner now."

"He did say brief meeting," Dee pointed out.

"We'll wait. If it's taking longer than short, we'll come get you," Drake offered.

"I think once the Commissioner knows about this," Dee said.

"Hang on," Ryo said, and went over to the phone.

As he hung up from speaking to the Commissioner, Ryo said, "Dee, he said when you're done with Jim, to go to his office. He'll drive you home tonight. Okay?"

"I might end up going back down to Jim's. Depends on how I'm feeling down there. I mean I think I can stand being down there for a while at least."

"Okay." He leaned over to kiss Dee briefly. "If you miss the Commissioner's ride, I'm going to trust you'll find a safe way home when you're done here. If not, call me and I'll come get you. Otherwise, I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Gotcha." Dee left the office with the others, but got off the elevator on the forensics floor, wishing the others luck.

* * *

"Dee?" Jim asked surprised when the dark haired detective entered the lab technician's office. "What are you doing here?"

Dee took a look around the office, breathing in deeply. He placed his hand on his bump and gave Jim a smirk. "Second trimester, second wind, I guess." Dee sat down in a chair. "I've notice in the last month things have been calming down a lot. I haven't had any sign of nausea in about three weeks. There are still some smells that get to me, but a lot don't either. And don't give me anything out of a can, 'cause I'll be tasting metal into the next day."

Jim smirked. "Okay, that explains why I'm probably going to be stuck with you for a few minutes, but what brings you down here. I don't have anything new for you."

"Yet," Dee said. "We have a new dump. Already."

"Already? You mean, you think it's because of the press conference. Which by the way, as much as I hate to say this, but you were awesome, dude."

Dee chuckled. "Thanks. And yeah. Apparently he did a quick drop-off at the loading docks of the Pathmark downtown."

"Holy shit. He had… what? No more than two hours tops."

"Yup. That's what we thought too. We're right on with the theory that there are dead, ready to drop off bodies somewhere."

"Yeah. I'm trying to find some evidence that could lead us to where."

"Look Jim. We find a decomposed body and put it on ice, right?" When the forensics technician looked at Dee in thought, he continued, "It could be possible they were iced before the dump."

"That's a thought. Our victims had hours, at least, if not days, before they were discovered," Jim mused. "So you think we're looking for what? Some large freezer room where they are stored like sides of beef?"

Dee's stomach did lurch and he shivered at the mental image. "Thanks, Jim."

"Anytime, Dee. Just making sure you don't stay down here too long and end up doing my job."

"Ass," Dee remarked. "I just wanted to toss that out to you to check as a possibility."

"I'll look into it. Do you think they'll be doing an autopsy tonight?" Jim asked.

"Mostly likely. If not, then before the morning. I don't see how we can come across any of that red tape bullshit and have to wait until Cantrell can do it."

"I'd like to know when, if I can."

"I'll have them call you."

"Thanks."

Dee stood up, starting to walk to the door, then paused. "Say Jim?" He looked back.

"What now?"

"I just had another thought. I was looking through the files today and this odd thought went through my mind."

"If it was an actual thought, then I agree, it had to be odd."

Dee glared mildly as Jim laughed. "What is it, Dee?"

"The fetuses. They found all except for Brent's."

"Yeah. Chances are they did something else with it, or it's still in the East River somewhere. What about it?"

"Did we, or could we, do any paternity tests between the fetus and the victim found?"

"What? I would tend to think that if the fetus came from the Carrier, then it's his," Jim stated.

"That's it. How do we know with the last few victims that it is theirs? We find a fetus. If he's killing in advance and removing the fetus, then he must be very good at organization. I mean, if he has more than one body at the time."

"Hm. You're right about that. I'll look into that angle too, Dee and get back to you on it."

"Well, I'll leave you now. I have a meeting with the Commissioner and then I'm off for the night. If you find out anything tonight, give me a call."

"You're off duty."

"I'll be on my duff, with some snacks that Ryo's grandmother gives me, and relaxing. I can handle calls with information that could bring this case to an end sooner than later, Jim."

"Isn't she flying back to Japan tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we'll be in a little late, since we're dropping her off at the airport."

"It's a shame Ryo ends up having to work on her last night before going home."

"I know. I hope he gets home at a decent time. But it won't be years until he sees her again. She's coming here when the baby is due, and will probably be staying for a few weeks, maybe even a month."

"Aw, that's sweet, Dee. Okay, I think your second trimester super powers are draining and time's up here. You're starting to look pale."

"So I just noticed," Dee said, realizing he was starting to feel ill. "Call me on my cell if you find out anything."

"Will do, Dee. Night."

* * *

Commissioner Rose asked Dee the same question about Akira Aoki that Jim had.

"I'll call over to the scene and make sure Ryo calls it a night at a decent time to spend at least a couple of hours with his grandmother," Rose stated.

"Thank you, sir. You had something to tell us?"

"Yes. It seems that both our PR office and the NYPD Media Unit have been getting flooded with offers this afternoon."

"Offers?" Dee asked, leaning back in his seat and getting comfortable.

"Interviews, TV appearances. This has turned into a real human interest story, with you at the heart of it, Dee. Good morning, America wants you on next week. Larry King. David Letterman. You name it. Magazines want interviews. Media has decided that if you agree, we can work this to our advantage with the case."

Dee groaned and sat up in his chair. "Commissioner… Berkeley, I can't. I don't mind doing press conferences, but I can't do talk shows and interviews."

"Of course you can, Dee. You know how to charm when you want to. You know how to take your street style and make it work to your advantage. Which is most probably why this is happening. You're not just a detective. You're not just the detective who is Carrying. You appealed to people, you caught the public interest. Chances are someone who might have tuned out anyone else talking about the Carrier Killer listened to you. Because you got them interested in you."

"Gee, thanks," Dee mumbled, still not used to hearing direct praise from Berkeley Rose. "But still. It's not so much inability, but not having the desire to become this celebrity for the next week or even month. I don't want having this baby to turn into a circus."

"I understand that, Dee. But your story goes beyond finding our killer, which if we work things out right, your appearances will focus on. It's about inner strength. Carriers have far more rights these day than ten years ago, but there are still blockades. You might be able to open one or two more of them. You might be able to make another cop or someone in a career that Carriers are not known to be in, stand up and be proud. Andy, Ryo's partner, took a 12 month administration leave of absence. He didn't dare tell anyone on the job that he was pregnant. He came back to work, and went to a new precinct and for the first two years of his son's life, he told everyone that it was an ex's. A female ex's, who left them both."

Dee sighed. "I have to meet someone from the 7-5 sometime Sunday. A detective. He's hoping to get pregnant, but he's been holding it off, afraid of how it might affect his job. He asked if I could have lunch with him, talk to him."

"Encourage him to go ahead with it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah."

"See. You're becoming a role model. But then again, I never expected you to stay low or lay down… for too long, at least, but that was yesterday. And this is now. We didn't plan it this way, Dee, but you're a celebrity. It may only be your fifteen minutes of fame, but think of the good you can do if you use it properly."

Dee was quiet for a few minutes, the Commissioner allowing the other man to think. At last Dee looked at him. "When do you need a firm yes or no?"

"Sometime tomorrow, if we're going to get this rolling during the week."

"I'll talk to discuss this with Ryo – if I agree to it."

"Of course. That is why I called for both of you. But I understand why Ryo can't be here right now."

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll give you my answer."

"Fair enough. Can I give you a lift home now, Dee?"

"Ryo isn't getting jealous of us yet, so I'll say, thank you, sir."

Rose laughed as he stood up and prepared to leave for the night.

"What?" Ryo asked in surprise. He gazed at Dee with amusement. "They want you to do TV next week?"

* * *

After Rose had dropped Dee off at home, he went down to the scene to join his other detectives. After a short while of being there, and seeing things were well in hand, he went to Ryo, reminding him that he was not the on-call detective that night, and that it was his grandmother's last night in New York City until the baby was to be born. Not long after, he watched as Ryo hailed a cab and went home, making JJ and Drake to promise to have information for him the next morning.

He had a good night with Akira. The only problem was Ryo was reluctant to say good bye to her so soon. After all those years, a few days and evenings did not seem like enough time. After his grandmother had said goodnight to him, Dee and Bikky, Ryo went to take a shower, while Bikky went to bed.

By the time Ryo entered their bedroom, Dee had the lights turned down low, and had snacks and tea waiting for them. He took Ryo in his arms and held him for a while, promising him that the time would go by fast. That soon, their baby will be born and his grandmother would be gushing over her great-grandchild. Then he just talked. About how much he loved Ryo, about silly things, about anything that would make Ryo smile.

Once Ryo was in a better mood, Dee told his husband about his meeting with the Commissioner over green tea and Japanese wheat pastries.

Dee smiled at Ryo's reaction. "I was shocked too at first."

"Do you want to do it?" Ryo asked, then sipped his tea, looking over at Dee over the rim of the porcelain cup with no handles. They had received several more expensive tea cup sets as wedding presents, but the cups they drank from came from one of the sets Dee returned to New York with from Japan.

"I'm not sure," Dee admitted. "I mean, he made sense. About using it to help us, and how it could make a difference to others who might be scared about Carrying while on the job. It could even help Carriers in general, although this is me, we're talking about. I could end up hurting the image."

Ryo laughed, seeing that Dee was joking. "I think you'll do just wonderful," he stated anyway, leaning over to kiss Dee's cheek. "Seriously." When Dee remained quiet, staring into his teacup, Ryo leaned against Dee, putting an arm around him. "Dee? What's the problem?"

"The usual. I just don't want this to be a circus. I don't want the baby to be born in the spotlight." Dee turned his head to look at Ryo. "I just want to have a baby."

"And do whatever you can for your job until then," Ryo pointed out.

"I know. Personally, I don't feel right about it. I feel uncomfortable with all the attention." Dee leaned back, allowing Ryo to hold him more and laughed softly. "You know, ten years ago, I'd have killed for this attention. For me, by myself. But it's different now. I think I've become more a private person since I met you, especially after we started to go together. I just want to have a normal life and a normal baby."

"If that's what you want, then say no."

"It's not that easy. Because it's hard to just think of myself. Especially after everything we've been through since I found out I was pregnant." Dee shrugged. "I guess I went out there tonight, like the last time, thinking I was just doing my job. It never occurred to me that I might be of public interest. Or I could make a bigger difference than by just talking at a press conference."

Ryo rubbed his head against Dee's, then settled quietly next to his husband, still holding him. They drank their tea in silence. When Dee was done with his, Ryo took the cup from Dee's hands and placed it on the nightstand with his own. He held Dee with both arms. "Well, what's your answer?" Ryo asked softly.

Dee sighed and turned his head to look at Ryo. "Even if there's things I'd rather do low key, I guess I'm not one to be soft spoken."

Ryo grinned. "Nah, never you. You're more of the loud and proud type, you know."

"Would you mind if I said yes?" Dee asked, after laughing at his husband's comment.

"Not at all. I'd be pretty damn proud, you know." Ryo made a face. "God knows, I've been pretty damn loud lately."

Dee broke out in laughter, Ryo joining him.

"I love you," Dee stated. "I'll keep you, quiet or loud."

"I'm glad, because that seems to be a problem with me." Ryo kissed Dee's nose. "And it's all your fault."

"My fault, huh?"

"Yeah. You went and got yourself pregnant, which caused this whole 'coming out' ordeal for me. And decided that I want equality."

"Hm?" Dee mused with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"What?"

"If you really think about it, I didn't just get myself pregnant. I had help, you know." Dee's hand cupped Ryo's groin, tugging it just enough to make Ryo groan with pleasure. "It's all your fault."

Ryo smiled, licking his lips, then moaned as Dee repeated his action. "Yes," he sighed. "My fault. Wanna punish me?"

Dee grinned wickedly. "That sounds like fun." He captured Ryo's mouth in a kiss as his hand made its way into Ryo's pajama bottom.


	35. Hello Chibi

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 35 - Hello Chibi  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read!  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.

**March 26, 2006**

"So basically, our killer found an empty loading bay for the dump?" Dominic asked.

JJ nodded. "What we came up with after talking to employees is that the last truck pulled out of the bay around noon, and they were not expecting another truck until 6 pm. They were scheduled for quite a few deliveries Friday night."

"All put on hold because it became a crime scene," Drake added.

"Who found the victim?" Diana asked.

"A Pathmark employee. She went out to have a smoke and found the body under the platform of one of the bays."

"Anyone see any cars in the area?" Dominic asked.

"Nope. No cars," Dee stated. "However, we managed to get the security tapes for Pathmark and got this." Dee placed pictures on the desk before the two FBI agents.

Those who were in that morning, filled the FBI agents in on what had happened since Friday afternoon.

"That's what you get for leaving early," Ryo said, looking amused.

"You're starting to get annoying, pretty boy," Diana shot back.

"Did we look up the name on the truck?" Dominic asked as he studied the photos of the vehicle that looked like it was a bread truck. "What about the perp?"

"Male," Ryo said. "Definitely, judging from the build of the shoulders and the proportions of the torso. Unfortunately the head mask and black bulky clothes doesn't do well in getting an ID."

Dee snorted. "Apparently we have a dragon for a killer."

The others took a moment to laugh at Dee, and welcomed the break in tension.

"And yes, we did look up the name of the bakery, and came up with nothing. Pathmark says they don't deal with any bakeries of that name," JJ said.

"Adaris Creed. What a weird name," Diana mused. "Ethnic?"

"Or totally fake," Ryo stated. "Which I'm willing to put my money on."

"Yeah," Dom agreed with Ryo. "Name of victim?"

Dee looked down at the open file before him and sighed heavily. "Keith Benton-Ramirez and Tracy Ann." Diana stared at Dee. "Victim was 26 years old, married to Allen for four years, first pregnancy. Was 32 weeks pregnant."

"When Dee and I spoke to the husband yesterday, he kept referring to the baby by the name they'd given it," Ryo explained because of the looks Dee got when he mentioned two names.

"So? Are we holding at one?"

Drake held up his fingers. "Two. First thing in the morning, we got a call. At Riis Park. Nevermind it being officially spring, it's fuckin' cold on the beach. JJ and I spent the day canvassing, only to return and find those photos that Dee and Ryo obtained. So now, we go back today and ask if anyone saw the truck."

"Yeah, no kidding," Dominic said. "I'll like to take these pictures to headquarters and see if our equipment can pick up anything."

"Sure," Ryo stated. "We were hoping one of you two would say that, so we had a set made up for you." Ryo handed Dominic a manila folder that was labeled.

"Right now, we have no further information, so me and JJ go back to Riis Park and work our way up Rockaway Blvd, I guess," Drake said. "Diana and Dom, you're going to see what your labs can come up with what we have. Dee and Ryo are going to poke around the Pathmark some and see what they can come up with."

"I have an appointment for lunch that I can't miss," Dee remarked. "So Ryo and I will be off the clock for about an hour. We'll call in when we're back on duty."

"What's up, Dee?" Diana asked.

Dee smirked. "Apparently there's a detective in Brooklyn who wants to get pregnant, but fear of being pregnant on the job has been stopping him. He called me here on Friday after the press conference and asked if he could talk to me. So with any luck, but the time I have this baby, I won't be the only pregnant detective in the NYPD."

"That's good," Diana said, approvingly. "And I think it's wonderful that you're using your position to help others. Good on you, Dee."

"Thanks," Dee said. "So, are we ready to head out?"

"Wait! Before anyone goes anywhere and we stand a chance of not having all of us meet up again today, I need to ask you something, Dee and Ryo," Drake said.

JJ rolled his eyes. "Oh brother." He giggled.

"Oh?" Dee asked. "What? We already told you no explicit details of our honeymoon to live vicariously by."

Diana snort and Dominic laughed. "Oh, very funny," Diana said.

"Like you're not anxious with curiosity, Sea Hag," Dee remarked. "Anyways, question, Drake?"

"Tomorrow you go for the ultrasound, don't you?" Drake asked.

"Yup!" Dee grinned. "Hard to believe I'm at that point already, but I am. And I can't wait."

"You're so going to owe me when we leave, Dee," Ryo quipped.

"You think? You better be prepared to pay up."

The others watched Dee and Ryo amused.

"So Dee wants a girl, Ryo wants a boy," Diana summed up. "And will we get to find out who is the winner?"

"Dee swears he's having a girl, while I say he's having a boy. Devil's advocate and all that," Ryo replied with a laugh. "And maybe."

"Maybe? C'mon, guys. Wouldn't it make it easier when we start going through the baby registry?" Drake asked.

Ryo studied his co-workers, then looked at Dee. "I get the sense it's not just mere curiosity about what we're having," he said.

"Nor to pick out baby gifts," Dee agreed. He looked at the others. "So what's up?"

"Baby pool," Drake said. "It closes tomorrow at 8 am. We figure once you know the sex of the baby, we can start the elimination."

"Wait a minute. What else would there be after determining the sex?" Dee asked.

"Duh Dee. You've betted in these things before," Drake remarked.

"Yeah. On woman who wait until they go into labor, which could be anywhere from their 36th week to their 40th, and then some. We have a date set for the C-section, and a time. There's not much more guesswork involved with this baby," Dee explained.

"I'll bet that date is penciled in," JJ spoke. "Because anytime in the next few months, if Vince feels that you might be ready to have that baby sooner, he'll change the date. Right? So we have people who are betting on the date you gave for the C-section, and others who feel you're going to go in earlier. Then if we still have more than one person with the right date, we go for weight to determine our winner."

"I see you thought this out well," Ryo stated, looking amused. "Not bad for Janet."

Drake waved a hand. "Ah Janet. She was going for sex and weight. After doing some research, I stepped in to make it more interesting."

"We'll see," Dee remarked. "Or maybe we'll make everyone wait until we have the registries ready. Then you can figure it out by the color clothes we pick."

"You're so funny, Dee," Diana said. "You should go on TV."

The others in the office except Dominic laughed at Diana.

"What? It wasn't that funny," she asked.

"Dee is going to be on television this week," Ryo replied with a proud smile. He's going to be on Good Morning America on Wednesday, and David Letterman on Friday."

Diana's mouth dropped.

"Didn't the Commissioner tell you?" Dee asked, amazed that she didn't know.

"I didn't see him since Friday afternoon. Oh well, when I see him later, I'll ask him for a rundown." Diana looked at Dee and laughed. "Oh God, Dee Laytner-MacLean a TV star. We're in trouble."

"Dee is going to do fine," Ryo defended, even if he knew the woman he considered his best friend was joking.

"If he's anything like he was on Friday afternoon, I believe it," Dominic said. "You had everyone eating out of your hands, Dee."

"Thank you," Dee said with a smile. He glanced at his watch. "Alrighty now. Since it seems we're finished with our breakfast rundown, it's time to head out."

Diana laughed again. "Anxious to be back in the field, Dee?" she asked.

"You have no idea how much I missed it," Dee sighed.

"Oh we know," Drake exclaimed. "With all the bitching and whining we've been dealing with in the last couple of months, we believe it."

"Shut up, Drake," Dee snapped, tossing the bag with the garbage from his and Ryo's breakfast at the laughing man. "See you later." He took his coat from Ryo and the married couple left the office.

"He looks so much better since they came back from that honeymoon, doesn't he?" Diana asked.

"Oh yeah. Even with that upset on Thursday morning, Dee's still looking more like his old self these days," JJ replied.

"And twice as obnoxious," Drake laughed. "But you know, even Ryo is more relaxed. He would walk around, like he was expecting the worse to happen."

"One, I think having the wedding over and done with and being married to Dee helps," Diana said. "Two, a nice week and a half long relaxing honeymoon, including a resort with programs designed to help with the relaxation process. Three, he came back to confirmation that Carriers aren't just randomly picked off the streets unwillingly. It makes a difference on Ryo. On Dee too, since now he can go out and investigate again." Diana smirked. "And speaking of difference on Ryo, anyone notice that he's probably enjoying joining Dee in his cravings attacks too much?"

Drake and JJ laughed. "We were discussing that Friday," JJ said. "It's not that bad on him yet. Ryo had room for a little weight gain. But he better watch out soon."

"Okay, you two. We're heading out now. Call us if you come up with anything," Drake said.

"Roger that," Diana replied. "Good luck out there."

"Thanks."

* * *

**March 27, 2006**

"Welcome back, newlyweds," Vince greeted Dee and Ryo in the waiting room of the clinic he operated out of. "I understand you have some special requests for this visit?"

Dee laughed, holding up his laptop in the case. "Yeah, we need this hooked up so we can broadcast this around the world." He grinned.

"Plus Grandma couldn't make it today, and she so wanted to be here," Ryo explained.

"This is an exciting moment," Vince agreed. "And I'm glad to see so many of your family wanting to be part of it." He looked at the teen standing between Dee and Ryo. "Hi Bikky. Are you excited to see your brother or sister?"

Bikky nodded his head. "Oh hell yeah, Doc Vince. This is awesome. Ow! I'm sorry, Penguin… Ow! Mother!"

Ryo laughed, ruffling Bikky's blonde hair. "Yup, he's excited alright." The gleam in Ryo's dark eyes made it clear that he was just as excited.

"And it's a pleasure to have you join us today, Mother Lane."

Mother laced her hands in front of her and smiled brightly at Vince. "You have no idea how excited I am." She smiled at Dee. "Imagine, we're going to see my baby boy's baby."

"What about you, Dee? No last minute decision to wait until birth?" Vince asked.

"Are you f-flipping kiddin' me, Vince?" Dee replied, barely catching himself from cussing in front of Mother. He chuckled to himself, thinking that Andy should see him when he's around Mother. "I want to start picking out a name for the Chibi. Besides, Ryo and I have a bet to settle."

"We're going to use two rooms today, Dee," Vince explained. "One for the general examination part and we're going to get all those embarrassing questions out of the way. I understand Ryo has his appointment with Tim tomorrow, which is a wise move. Usually when I have a happy couple for this examine, they want to go out to celebrate, or call family, or whatever. The last thing the Papa-to-be wants is to sit down with his counselor and talk about whatever they talk about."

Ryo nodded. "I'm most likely going to have to call both grandmothers. Meanwhile we're all going out to dinner afterward."

"It's the day to do that," Vince said. "Now while I'm examining Dee, in the other room, I'll have my assistant set up the connection on Dee's computer to have the cam set up for when we're all ready to take a peek at the Chibi. Now remember, we will most likely see enough to figure things out, but it's not going to look like those woman's ultrasounds. Especially with this one's thick skin. Got it?"

"Understood, Doctor," Mother replied.

"Why are we standing around?" Dee asked.

Vince chuckled. "Ah, here's my assistant now. Dee, you would go with Sam please and get yourself undressed please. But make sure you're decent enough for your Mother to see you when we enter."

Ryo and Mother laughed. "Oh please, I used to change his diapers," Mother remarked, amused.

"Mom!" Dee complained. "That was a long time ago." He followed the assistant into the first examining room, while Vince made sure Ryo, Mother and Bikky were comfortable until they were called in. "I'm going to do the last part first, then I'll come get you. Ryo, Bikky, you know where the refreshments are. Make sure Mother Lane has something. We'll make this as quick as we can."

* * *

"We're ready for everyone," Vince announced, coming into the waiting room. "I have to add that Dee's looking very well. He's putting on a little extra weight than normal, but still within range to be healthy. Actually in a little while we'll find out if the weight is craving weight, or baby weight, and go from there. There's still a small sign of anemia, so I'm going to send for some lab work, but from what I can see, that seems to be within acceptable levels for pregnancy too. All in all, this is a very uncomplicated pregnancy as far as Dee's risk level goes," the doctor informed Dee's family. "And he's glowing!" Vince laughed. He looked at Ryo. "His blood pressure went down too. You know while there was no cause for worry, his blood pressure was up a bit too much. I account that to stress levels. It's down to exactly where it should be now."

Ryo smiled. "That's a relief. But you know, Dee's been back in the field since we came back to work. I think that has something to do with it."

"Just as long as he doesn't overdo it, or think he can chase after a criminal for several blocks, then that's a good thing."

"Yup. We're making sure he knows what he can't do. But just being out there, even doing what he can do, makes a difference."

"You know, I watched that press conference on Friday. We had it on here. Some of the other patients who met Dee were excited as anything to see someone they know on a special broadcast. He looked great, Ryo. And when he spoke of his job, it wasn't so much the words he said, it was the way he spoke. Being a detective is in his blood. So before when he was stuck behind a desk, he was half a man. He did well enough in that capacity, but I've been monitoring for his stress levels very carefully. I still will, because Dee's very susceptible to it, but right now, he's fine. I just wanted you to know that." His glance included Bikky and Mother as he clapped his hands together. "Now, I'll bet you're all as proud as anything of him and what he did on Friday. We had people in here cheering and clapping. It seems Dee has become something of a community hero of late."

Ryo laughed as he hugged Mother's arm. "Dee's going to be on TV some more this week. Our Media Department has a couple of national broadcast shows lined up. You wouldn't believe how many shows called asking to have him on. And newspapers and magazines, too." Ryo was beaming with pride. "Dee's going to talk about the Carrier Case, what we know to help Carriers stay safe until we collar the killer, and then about what it means to him being pregnant and a detective."

"Oh really? Well, you'll have to email me with it all, so we can watch it. Now, he should be decent enough, since I had to make him strip a bit more to run some tests. So shall we?"

Ryo smiled, putting an arm around Bikky's shoulder and letting Mother hold onto his arm. "Let's go," he said.

* * *

The rest of the first part of the examination went fast. Mother stayed in the corner of the small room with Bikky, watching with loving eyes as the doctor continued his examination on Dee. When it came time to check the baby's heartbeat, Mother found herself with tears in her eyes. Dee and Ryo had given her a copy of the recording the first time they heard it, but it was nothing like standing in the room, and hearing the muffled drumming as the doctor moved the microphone around Dee's swollen belly. Bikky tugged on her sleeve, and when she looked over, the teen was holding a tissue out to her.

"Thank you, Bikky," she said softly. "I'm sorry, but that is just too beautiful a sound for this old woman."

Bikky smiled and put his arm around her. "It's a pretty awesome sound for a kid like me," he said, resting his head against her arm.

Mother smiled brighter, as she continued to listen to the sound of her unborn child's heartbeat, with her teenage grandson. When Vince was finished, Ryo grabbed tissues from the nearby box, handing one to Dee, and using one for himself.

"Aw, they're both so happy about this," Mother sighed to Bikky. "They are truly blessed. First you, now this baby. Imagine, Bikky. You're going to be a big brother."

"Yeah." As Vince spoke to the happy couple about their getting a copy of that examination, Bikky looked at Mother seriously. "You know, I love my dad, and also my mom, and sometimes I still miss them, but there are other times that…" he smiled at her. "Ryo and Dee are really good to me, like as if they really are my dads. Sometimes, I wish they were. Then I wouldn't be missing my mom and dad. and only know what it's like having the best two fathers in the world. I intend to make sure when the baby is old enough that he knows he's really lucky to be their biological child. 'Cause I know I'm really lucky that they are my dads."

Mother hugged Bikky to her. "Oh, my child. They're really lucky having you."

"What are we missing?" they heard Ryo's teasing voice.

"Oh, I'm just so happy to be so blessed. That my Dee has such a wonderful family already. And then there's the baby on the way."

"Dee and I know we have the best family, and that includes Dee's mom." He smiled at her. "Come on, we get to follow Dee and tease him while he has to go into the other room in that hospital gown."

Mother laughed and turned to face her son, who was standing up and trying to hold the back together with one arm, while Vince laughed at him.

As Vince and Dee joined them near the door, Vince exclaimed, "That kid has one strong heartbeat. From what I can see, everything is great. I stopped worrying about the uterine lining a long time ago, but it's developing and growing very nicely. I'm contributing some of Dee's extra weight gain to it, because it's slightly larger than it should be at this point, but nothing to worry about. It means the baby has room," he explained as they walked down the hallway to the room where the ultrasound was to be performed.

"Yeah, that's all great and fine," Dee said. "But it's playing havoc on my hips and back. Not to mention more trips to the john. Plus I look like I'm six months, instead of five. I'm gonna be a cow by eight!"

"I want you to get in touch with your physical trainer and have him show you a few exercises that should help relieve the back pain. Speaking of exercising," Vince asked, "how much do you get in normally?"

"I workout in the house for about a half hour every other day, using the routine Mitch worked out with me," Dee replied. "Then there's that 15 minute stretch routine for everyday. And ever since Miami, Ryo and I have been walking everyday. I mean other than to the subway and stuff. We go out after dinner and just walk for a while. It all started with strolls along the beach on our honeymoon, but now, we go exploring in our neighborhood."

"Excellent. I have to say that you're still in excellent shape, Dee," Vince said. "Still have your arm definition, your pecs are as firm as ever, and your shoulders and upper back muscles too." He poked Dee in his belly. "Even if you're putting on more weight than average, don't let anyone tell you that you're fat. Because you're far from it."

Ryo hugged Dee. "See that? All that worry and you're not fat. So quit the whining at times."

Mother and Bikky laughed as Dee stuck his tongue out at Ryo.

"However, another way to quit the moaning about putting on excess weight would be to cut down on the junk food attacks," Vince suggested with a smirk.

"Aw Vince, I can't help it. I just crave it something awful," Dee whined.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "See what I have to live with?"

"Quiet," Dee grumbled as the others laughed.

Vince led them inside a room at the end of the hall. He indicated the examining table to Dee. "If you would please."

Ryo noticed that Dee's laptop was on a small table and angled so that not only Dee could be seen, but the monitor scan that will have the images of the ultrasound. Ryo helped Dee get comfortable on the table, then again while Vince adjusted the upper half so Dee was no fully on his back and yet not completely sitting up. Mother and Bikky stood off to the side next to the table with the laptop, Mother's arms on Bikky's shoulders.

After making sure everything was ready, Vince smiled at Dee and Ryo. "Okay, Dee. As you know, this one is going to be different than the first one. That one we ran under an emergency situation, so all the extras you requested were not available. Also that last time, you were only at 14 weeks, and not much to see. Once again, this is why we wait until the 20th week for the telling ultrasound, even if that first one did guide us in determining everything was fine with the baby at the time of your collapse. Since then the chibi has been through a lot of developing, with more to come in the remaining months. By the way, Dee, congratulations. You are officially at the halfway point of pregnancy. Which means according to Carrier guidelines, you are over the halfway point. Our tentative date for C-section is July 25th, meaning there's only 17 and a half weeks left. Now, depending on the results of today, that might change." Vince gave Dee an encouraging smile. "Nothing to worry about, as long as we continue to project a good C-section date."

"Are you already thinking it'll be sooner?" Ryo asked, holding Dee's hand.

Vince nodded. "From the first part of this exam, yes, I'm forming the opinion to move it up about a week to make sure Dee doesn't go into labor on us. Because of the measurements of the uterine lining, I won't be surprised if we see a baby slightly ahead of what it should be. Which is not anything to worry about. It just means the baby is developing faster and will be ready to live outside the uterine lining with no difficulty sooner than 37 weeks. Remember normal pregnancies for both men and women can go from 36 – 40 weeks. So the baby is still growing on target, and showing no cause to test for any abnormities in hormones or glands."

"Those would be tests done after the baby was born?" Dee asked. "I mean if it comes to having to deliver before 36 weeks."

"Standard guidelines for Carriers would be before 35 weeks," Vince replied. "And yes, if we decide we need to get the baby out before then, there would be tests on the baby after birth to make sure all is well. The first thing to be checked would be the pituitary gland. However, I'm sure that won't be an issue here. Moving up your C-section date by a week is very likely and normal. So don't worry."

Dee nodded, squeezing Ryo's hand. He looked over to Mother and Bikky and smiled. "Sorry we're holding up the main entertainment."

Mother laughed. "That's quite fine, Dee. I'm enjoying standing here and watching this."

Vince chuckled. "I'm afraid I'm not as interesting as our TV star here when I talk on, but I do need to assure Dee and Ryo know what to expect and where not to worry. With that out of the way, Dee, this time I'm going to have to ask you to lift the hospital gown up or this could get messy."

Dee glanced at Mother for a moment, then gave her a rueful grin before pulling up the gown. Ryo tucked the gathered gown so it wouldn't fall during the ultrasound.

Bikky laughed. "Look at those cheesy shorts!" he exclaimed.

"Quiet rugrat or I'll make you stand outside," Dee teased the teen.

"Yeah right. Ryo wouldn't let me miss this for anything, and you know it."

"I'll tell you what I know," Dee started.

"I'll make you both stand outside if you don't shut up and let us get on with this," Ryo remarked anxiously.

Both Bikky and Dee looked at Ryo, who was grinning from ear to ear, with shining eyes. Vince and Mother laughed.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road, before Dee ends up in the hall," Vince remarked, amused. "Ryo, if you would please, make sure we have our audience at the ready."

Ryo kissed Dee's forehead before he turned to the laptop and started connection for this two grandmothers, along with assorted cousins in Japan, and Dee's family in Ireland. "Test," he said finally

"I see you, Randy," Estelle's voice came from the computer. "And I see Dee too. My darling, you look most adorable right now."

Ryo laughed as Dee blushed, suddenly aware of having his gown hitched up above the bump and wearing hospital issued paper style boxers while various family members looked on. "Yes, he does, Grandma. I take it you're ready?"

"Yes, we are. This is amazing. I never knew a computer can do this. I'm so happy Eunice knows what to do."

"Hi Dee, hi Ryo," Eunice said. "I'm just making sure your grandparents get a good transmission."

"Right. You had the know-how and that got you into the exclusive viewing," Ryo remarked amused. "If Grandfather there?"

"Right here, Randy. I know you have other family to get to, so we'll just sit back and watch from here. And Dee, you look splendid."

"Gee, thanks much, Grandfather," Dee drawled.

Laughter came from the computer.

"Okay, checking in with Japan now," Ryo commented. "So enjoy the show. Obasan? Are you there?"

"Oh yes, we are," Akira's excited voice replied in Japanese. "This is so exciting. Your aunt and uncles are here, along with your cousins. We're having a party in the honor of this event, and will be sending you a DVD during the week."

Dee laughed. "I'm looking forward to seeing it, Obasan," he remarked in Japanese, amused. He remembered how when his Japanese friends would have these big theme parties, and actually send out flyers, with a suggested admission – which helped pay the party's expensives, and afterward he would receive a video tape of the party. When he went back to New York City, once in a while his friends would throw some party in some weird reference to Dee and send him a recording of it. He should have realized it was a Japanese thing, and was highly amused that Ryo's family was doing the same thing.

"That sounds wonderful, Obasan," Ryo replied, also in Japanese. "Let us know when it's sent so we can keep a look out for it. Dee and I will give you a call later tonight when we're out of here. Love you."

"Love you too, Ryo, and Dee. And of course the little Chibi."

"Okay, last stop on this international conference, Ireland. Do we have Ireland in the house?" Ryo asked.

"Indeed you do," Siobhan's voice replied. "I'm here with Mum, and the kids and we're all very excited. Thank you for including us."

"Dee and I decided we couldn't do this without having family present. So it's an honor to us to have you watch."

"I'll bet Maria is just beside herself," Clarisse said.

"Hi Siobhan, hi Clarisse, hello assorted kids," Dee called out. "Actually, she's beside our son, but yes, she's very excited. We all are."

Mother rolled her eyes. "Dee, you're so silly sometimes."

"Indeed he is, but he has always been that way," Clarisse said.

"Okay, we have everyone. So now I'm going to have to ask everyone to forgive us while we ignore you until we call later tonight," Ryo said, with a warm smile. "Vince, we're ready."

He turned on the recording equipment and spoke. "March 26, ultrasound for Dee Laytner-MacLean, 20 weeks two days, fetus term 18 weeks. Proceeding as follows." Leaving the recording equipment on, he turned on the monitor and grinned at Dee as he picked up the applicator for the gel. "Everything you say will be held against you," he stated.

Ryo laughed. Dee rolled his eyes chuckling.

"Sorry, I've always wanted to say that to you two. Now Dee, this is going to be cold and sticky. Try to keep complaints to a minimum."

"Sure. Ever since I've started coming to you, I've been adept at withstanding torture," Dee quipped.

Ryo snorted loudly. "Yeah, right. We'll see in a second."

Mother chuckled warmly, still holding onto Bikky's shoulders.

"Hey!" Dee exclaimed, wriggling while he laughed a little.

"See?" Ryo remarked laughing.

"You're acting like we've never done this before, Dee," Vince commented.

"Something I should know about?" Ryo joked as Vince finished putting the gel on the bump.

"Hey now, this is a family event," Dee said, chuckling.

"Okay, now after all the big build up, let's see if I can actually find a place that will let us look in," Vince said. "For those who are not used to Carrier pregnancies, because the uterine lining is artificially form after conception of an embryo, the lining is thicker and have some different genetic properties than your average female womb. It's a temporary housing, and basically a foreign object that has worked its way into the hosts body, making everything work together, hopefully in harmony, during the pregnancy. During the C-section, after the baby is born, the ruptured uterine lining will be removed. Others will form with any pregnancies after that. To put it simply, it's tougher than a female uterus, and we might not have as many options to see the baby. I can guarantee we'll see something, and I'll be able to do enough determination based on facts I gathered earlier in the exam to how the baby is progressing. With luck, we should be able to tell whether this is a girl chibi or a boy chibi. Are we ready?"

Ryo nodded, holding Dee's hand again, smiling. "Yes."

"Come on with it, already doc," Dee remarked, his eyes going from Vince, down to his swell, then to the monitor.

Chuckles filled the room, from Mother, Bikky and the assorted family watching the exam on cam.

Vince started to move the device along Dee's abdomen, the images changing on the monitor, but nothing to hint of a fetus. Suddenly the image changed as he moved along the left side of the bump.

"Oh my!" Vince laughed. "Sorry about that, folks." He looked over at Dee and Ryo. Dee's eyes were fixed to the screen, his face indication he knew exactly what he was looking at. Ryo was peering at the screen, his face soft as he knew they were looking at the baby, but not quite figuring out what of the baby.

"Yes!" Dee cried out, laughing. "Yes!"

Vince shook his head as Ryo looked at Dee confused, still looking at the monitor out of the corner of his eyes. "What?"

"I didn't realize that your little girl might have some exhibitionist tendencies," Vince chuckled.

"What?" Ryo repeated, then looked back at the screen. After a moment, the image became more clear to him. "Oh my…." His face broke out in a huge grin. He laughed.

Vince indicated the three lines forming something like a triangle at an angle that was very up close on the screen. "She's pressed up right along this side. There's no denying that Chibi is definitely a girl. That's probably the clearest shot we'll ever get of a baby in the uterine lining."

"Yes!" Dee repeated. He looked up at Ryo, tears in his eyes. "We're having a girl."

Ryo laughed and kissed Dee. "I guess we are. And I don't mind losing the bet. As long as we have a healthy baby and…" His eyes went back to the screen. "My God, a girl. We have a pronoun now."

"We do," Dee laughed, crying with joy.

Bikky held up another tissue for Mother, who laughed as she accepted it and wiped her eyes. "Oh Dee, a little girl. That is wonderful."

"Can I still teach her how to play basketball when she's older," Bikky asked, smiling.

"Of course you can, Biks," Dee replied. "If she's my kid, she's going to know basketball."

Ryo laughed.

"Let me see if I can get her to move some so we can get a better image of her." Vince started to tap along Dee's abdomen, in hopes to make the baby move.

"Hey easy there, Vince," Dee remarked. "I can feel this, you know. Oof! She just kicked!"

Vince laughed. "I tried to see if we could see in on the right side, but no luck. We do have an opening under here and, oh here we go." He laughed as Dee made a face, looking down at the bump. "She looks wonderful, Dee."

"Easy darling. She just kicked again."

"Yes, I caught the movement on the second one," Vince said. "

Everyone was looking at the screen again. The image was not as clear as before, but Ryo realized it was more than the murky blob in the photo from the last time. "Oh…" Ryo remarked, amazed, as he stared at his daughter on the screen.

Squeals and aws came from the laptop. "Oh sweet Lord," Mother murmured reverently. "This is my grandchild." She squeezed Bikky's shoulders again and kissed the top of his head. "And your sister."

"Still looks like a blob," Bikky remarked, teasing."

Vince went through the image, pointing out when she moved, she curled up more, which was better for him. She was facing forward, her knees folded up. Her arms were folded up too. "Two arms, two legs, two eyes and ears," Vince stated as he finished pointing out features. And yes, she is slightly larger than she should be at this point." He looked over at Dee. "Which means once I get a chance to really study the images, I'll be calling you with your new delivery date. It shouldn't be more than a week earlier."

"A week earlier to have her here," Dee said, his arms going into the position of holding a baby, "than there," he pointed to the screen.

"She's right there, silly," Ryo remarked, his voice still filled with awe, as he pointed to Dee's abdomen.

"I know," Dee laughed as Ryo bent down to kiss Dee again.

"She's beautiful, Dee. She might still look a little like a blob right now, but she's still beautiful. Oh my God, our daughter. Dee…." Both him and Dee laughed when a tissue suddenly appeared before Ryo. Ryo took it from Bikky and wiped his eyes. "Thanks, Biks. Now… I love you so much, Dee." He leaned over again for another soft kiss. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I think that's beautiful," Estelle said. "And since this is the first MacLean heir in a very long time that is a girl, I am personally excited about this. Randy, Dee, I'm so happy about this."

"Dee, judging from Ryo's grandmother here, I highly suggest buying stock in tissue paper before that little baby is born," Franklin's voice said.

Dee laughed. Somehow, someway, during the endless parties leading up to the wedding, he ended up talking about investing with Franklin MacLean, admitting that while he did not have the money to play the stocks, he did keep a portfolio of what he would have had if he did. Franklin was impressed, telling Dee that he seemed to have a natural flair for it, and they would talk again about it after the honeymoon. "I get that feeling too, sir."

Vince wrapped up the exam, and while he cleaned up, so Dee could go and change into his clothes, Ryo briefly spoke to the family again, giving Mother a chance to also say hello to her family. Then Mother took Bikky out of the room, to wait in the waiting room. Ryo shut down the connection, and started to put away the laptop.

Ryo handed Dee more tissues when he turned his attention back to his husband as Vince's assistant came in with Dee's clothes.

"That was a success, if you ask me," Vince stated. "Look Dee, we're going to leave you now so you can get dressed. There's some wet naps over there to wipe up any places I might have missed. You're looking a little flushed too, but it's a good one. Feeling good?"

"Oh God, yes. I am. Our baby girl. God," Dee rambled on. "I mean I knew we were going to see her, but…."

Ryo hugged Dee, also still emotional. "But it's not the same as actually seeing." He touched the bump and smiled. "Hey there little girl chibi. You're a beautiful little girl, for a blob."

Dee laughed, kissing Ryo.

"I'm sorry the images aren't as clear as women get, but that's the way it is for Carriers for now. And much better than five years ago. I should show you what Hannah looked like in hers," Vince said. "But they're working on it. At least there's enough money in the field for new technology to be worked on. So maybe by the next one, you'll have a clearer picture."

Dee pointed at Ryo. "The next one, right here."

Ryo laughed, nodding his head. "Yup, that would be me. But not for a couple of years yet." He kissed Dee again. "You go get changed and we'll meet you outside there."

"Okay." Dee smiled up. "A girl."

" I want to get a few things done before I let you go and celebrate," Vince said to Dee after Ryo left.

"Sure. Oh, um…." Dee looked a little uncomfortable, playing with the hospital gown. "Vince?"

"Yes?"

"Something you said while we were coming to this room made me decide. And, its… yeah. I'm gonna do it."

Vince laughed. "Are you sure? Maybe you want to take a day or two to think a little more about it?"

"I've been thinking all month," Dee replied. "But well, if things are looking like I won't go soft and flabby there, then yeah, I could do it."

"Oh, I'm sorry Dee. I should have pointed that out to you during that part of the exam. But yes. I forgot that sometimes a man's decision is based on the chance of his actually ending up with something like breasts, but no. You won't. Your muscle definition in the area is very good. You'll remain firm and no one would be any the wiser. Unless they walked in on you feeding the baby."

"Good."

"The glands needed to produce the milk would be internal. Yes, if a man's pectoral definition is not firm, and he doesn't regularly work out those muscles, he does become soft, flabby, even appear to have small breasts. That's not a factor for you, Dee. So shall I also include your first dosage for the hormones when you leave today?"

"Yes."

"Don't look so embarrassed about it. Or are you going to hide from Ryo whenever you have to feed the baby."

"Probably not Ryo, after I get used to the idea. But I'm working on that now. Thanks, Vince."

"I'll leave you now. See you in a bit, Dee."

When Vince joined the happy family, he handed Dee an envelope that contained the two frozen images from the ultrasound, and a CD with the recording of the exam. He explained that he included the images on the CD too. He gave Dee some instructions for that point in the pregnancy. The last thing Vince did was hand Dee a packet and a prescription, along with another a handbook. Ryo looked on in curiosity as to what Dee was prescribed for, since his vitamin prescription was good until after the pregnancy. Dee quickly shoved the handbook in the side pocket of his laptop case. Vince suggested that Dee make an appointment with a counselor. Ryo was more curious.

As they left, Vince made them promise to email him with the dates and times for the TV appearances, and any magazines he would do interviews for.

On the way to where they were going to eat, and meet Carol, Ryo called his MacLean grandparents, talking until they got to the restaurant. Dee gave Mother his cell phone to call her family while they waited for their food. Ryo waited until they got home later that night before he called his grandmother in Japan and ended up talking to his family.

When they went to bed, Ryo finally asked Dee about the packet. Dee smiled at Ryo, explaining it was a days worth of pills until he could fill the prescription the next day. When he said why, Ryo was surprised. He couldn't say he was put off by the idea, especially when Dee told him what made him finally decide.

However, later that night, while Dee slept, Ryo found himself in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar, staring into the tea he made for himself. He was glad Dee was able to make decisions that would benefit the baby more. From the time Dee first told him about the baby, Ryo was amazed and pleased at how Dee settled into the pregnancy. Gone was the lost, helpless man Ryo held in his arms that night in December. Now if you ask Dee, it was the best thing to happen to him, next to meeting Ryo. Dee grew with the pregnancy, including emotionally. He changed over the months in a positive way, yet was still the same man Ryo fell in love with. He was happy for Dee, glad that Dee was able to get past masculine pride and choose to start taking hormones to be able to breastfeed. It should have felt weird to Ryo, but it didn't. Not after watching Dee the last few months. Not knowing the baby's best interests were first in Dee's thinking. Everything was okay with Ryo with Dee's decision. He was proud of his husband. Especially knowing when it was his time to Carry, he was not so sure he'd make the same decision for himself.

What did bother Ryo was suddenly he felt left out of that area of the baby's life. All through the pregnancy, Dee did his best to make Ryo part of the experience. Whenever one of them said to someone that "We're pregnant," or "We're due in July" it was true. Dee may be the one Carrying, but they were both actively involved in the pregnancy. If they were able to accomplish that while Dee was pregnant, Ryo was certain when it came to raising the baby would be easier.

Suddenly he was feeling left out of one area of his baby daughter's life. He was looking forward to feeding times with her, sharing the duty with Dee. Now he would be left out, because for at least the first few months, Dee would be handling that on his own.

Ryo tried to shake it, but as much as he tried, it just didn't sit well with him. He found the thought upset him very much.


	36. Case Closed

Title: The Unexpected II  
Chapter 36 - Case Closed  
Rating: R  
Fandom: FAKE  
Pairings: Ryo/Dee (mostly), some Dee/Ryo  
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don't like, don't read! Cursing, mature themes, graphic insinuations of violent death.  
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.  
Author's Note: Well, this is it! The Unexpected II is finished. FINALLY, huh? Since it has been longer than I planned in posting, I decided to post the rest of the chapters today. The Unexpected III has been started (currently I'm trying to finish Chapter 9 for posting at my LJ). If I get time this weekend, I'll be posting The Unexpected III Chapter one. If not, then soon (no 4 month waiting). The chapters posted today are totally without beta – through no fault of my beta. I intend to correct that at a later time, but for now, please forgive the errors. See everyone soon!

(Be on the lookout for my "alter ego" to start posting a new fic later tonight.)

* * *

**March 30, 2006**

I thought you wanted to be careful?" the caller asked the moment there was heard the sound of the phone being answered.

"That wasn't my idea," came the defensive reply. "I told the others after the press conference to play it cool, not to let the police get to them. It was obvious that bastard Carrier cop was trying to rile us, hoping to piss us off enough to give ourselves away."

"Looks like he was successful," came the annoyed reply.

"It was George… he played it so cool he fooled us. Went right back to slicing up our latest guest after watching the special broadcast. I talked to my crew, made sure they understood. I even pushed the first dump to the overnight on Saturday, deciding Friday would be a bad idea. By the time George got back to the freak after our talk, he was already dead. He bled himself out while we watched the broadcast, but George insisted on finishing the incision, removing the monster from within him and make sure it was dead too. Then he got cleaned up and I closed up shop, sending everyone home for the day. Imagine my surprise to hear on the news later that night about the dump. He must have went back and made the dump himself."

"I go out of town for a few days and come back to this." The tone of voice indicted the caller was at the end of his patience. "How can you be so sure it was George?"

"Sal was with me, and Dave had a meet-up. Some poor sucker who didn't catch the press conference. Too late for him now. We had to go through with it, to make sure he didn't talk to the police."

"I see your regular delivery boy made the rest of the deliveries as promised."

"We used the van while the truck is getting a facelift. Look, I kept to this week's schedule, and we have two more, but it's too hot to go for five right now. Not to mention the police made it very clear that Laytner will remain on the force. Let me get rid of what we have and stay low for a while."

"And let the police think they won?" A snort. "I don't think so. Find three more."

"Who would use the website now? After all that publicity. And then this morning on '_Good Morning, America_' Laytner was on, telling the public what they have on us, warning about the website and more pointers on how Carriers can stay safe. And worse of all, talked about his having that damn monster, and getting pity points from the public. I hear he turned down quite a few other TV appearances, but he's going to appear on '_48 Hours_' to talk more about it. And do a couple of interviews for magazines. It's enough to make you sick."

"Do you know which ones?"

"He didn't narrow it down yet. It's said that he decided to do two TV appearances and two interviews and no more for now."

"I'll see what I can find out. But there are still always the stupid. Tell me there isn't any email since Friday."

"There is, but I'm not sure I can trust them."

"Well then, feel it out. Play legit until you can determine the inquiry is legit. Or if you have the stupid bastard in a place that it makes no difference, take him then."

A heavy sigh came. "I'm planning on going out of town for a while. Maybe for a few months. Let it all calm down. Or just set up shop again somewhere else."

"I'm not paying you to work somewhere else. You leave, I'm withdrawing my charitable contributions."

"Fine. You do that. Two more dumps and then we're gone. You want to give the police more to sniff out, be my guest. But it won't be through us."

"Believe me, I always get what I want. So I would think long and hard about this before making your final decision. I'll be calling you again tomorrow." The phone call came to an abrupt end.

"So nothing on the truck yet?" Dom was asking when Ryo and Dee entered the office.

JJ shook his head. "Nothing. We tried to do a thread check for tires, but nothing. Jim is going back over the photos from the dump in Flushing Meadow, hoping to piece together something.

"Why couldn't they use carpets or something to wrap the victims in," Dana sighed.

Ryo sat down in a chair next to Andy's desk and started to look through the files again.

"So how's life for you two this morning?" Diana asked.

Ryo looked up for a moment, then back to the file.

"We just had to tell more parents that their son was killed," Dee remarked, leaning up against Dana's desk. "Tell me how life is." Absently, he rubbed his swell through the cotton of his shirt. "The hell about it was that despite their grief, the parents were excited to have a celebrity in their house."

"Who?" Drake asked.

Without looking up from his study of a file, Ryo pointed toward Dee. "Him. Mr. Good Morning America."

"Oh, right," Drake said, then snickered.

"Stop the teasing, fathead. I seem to remember you having the thrill of a lifetime meeting Cyreena Trembleton."

"Well, she's only the hottest model turned movie star at the moment," Drake defended. "Why shouldn't I be excited talking to her. Or getting her autograph?"

"Oh having her kiss you," JJ snorted. He balled up a piece of paper and tossed it at Drake's head.

"Most definitely a mercy kiss," Ted remarked. "You know, pity and all that."

"I don't recall you getting a kiss," Drake remarked with a smirk.

"Did you get a phone number with that kiss?" Dee asked, his eyes settling on Drake.

"Hell no. She's not that crazy," Drake replied, then winked at Dee.

Dee laughed.

"He's not that crazy either," Ryo remarked cryptically, picking up a pencil and starting to scribble on a blank piece of paper.

"So payment for the domain didn't pan out either, I see," Diana mused after laughing with the others.

"No ma'am," Andy said. "Nor for the hosting company for the website. Seems there was a large sum of money paid up front, in cash, with no return address."

"So did whoever is doing this really expect to be killing Carriers for five years, or what?" Dom asked.

"I think it's was just to cover bases and not make any more payments," JJ stated.

Dee nodded. "Sounds like that to me, too."

"So who's going to email this joker and request for a meeting?" Diana asked.

All heads but Ryo's turned toward Diana.

"Excuse me?" Dee asked.

"Undercover assignment. Of course, you're out. We're not taking chances with a real baby. Dana and I are out, for obvious reasons of being female. So which one of you gentlemen want to pretend to be an upset Carrier with nowhere to turn?"

"I got it!" Ryo exclaimed, dropping his pencil onto the desk so hard it bounced.

"What?" Andy asked, jumping from the sudden exclamation from his partner. He grabbed the pencil and placed it on the other side of the desk from Ryo.

"It's an anagram," Ryo remarked.

"A what?" Ted asked.

"There was something familiar about the bakery name. Like I should know what it is. So I sat down and tried to change the letters around."

"Sorry, but you might have missed the meeting where we determined that there are no bakeries called Adaris Creed," Ted commented amused.

"I know. But there was something," Ryo replied. "It was driving me crazy since Dee did the interview yesterday."

"So?" Dee asked. "What did you come up with?"

"Not good, but nothing surprising either," Ryo said. He held up the pad he was writing on, moving it slowly so all could see.

"Holy shit," Dee groaned.

"We managed to get three reports of that truck in the vicinity of a dump once we got the word out," Drake said. "Which tells me this truck has been used all along."

JJ shook his head. "Dead Carriers. In front of anyone it drove past, no one knew better. They just thought it was a private bakery or something."

Diana looked thoughtful. "Which means we need to go through everything again, and see what else was left for us that we didn't catch."

Dee sighed. "Well, I wish I could stay and join the party, but Dana and I have a meeting with one of our domestic victims."

Dana nodded, standing up. "He's not a killer, but beating up your son because he said he's pregnant is bad enough. Let's go, Dee."

"We'll give a call on the way back, in case anyone still stuck here needs us to bring back lunch," Dee said. He winked at Ryo with grin as he followed Dana to the door.

"Be careful, you two," Ryo remarked.

"I'll bring him back in one piece," Dana assured Ryo from the doorway. "Exactly the way I expect someone to bring my husband home." She smiled at Ryo.

Ryo still stared at the closed door after the two detectives left.

Diana went over to Ryo, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Relax. He's been doing great since you came back from your honeymoon. It seems to be good for him."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah. Even Vince mentioned his blood pressure being down. Still… other than it's strange watching Dee left for a case with his partner." He noticed eyes on him. "Sorry, Andy. Yeah, I know you're my partner. It's still weird. You have to understand, Dee and I have been partners for a long time."

"And now you're husbands. You'd think you'd enjoy a little respite from always having him underfoot if you were still partners," Andy replied.

"You might feel that way about your spouse," Ryo snapped. "Then again, maybe that's why you're divorced, huh?"

Andy's eyes went wide.

"Shit," Ryo grumbled, looking at his offended partner. "Look, Andy. I still don't feel good letting out there out of my sight for long as long as we don't have a collar on this case. I know, I know," he added, holding his hands up in defense. "I'll admit I trust Dana with him. She knows how she would feel if anything happened to her husband, so she's not going to allow anything to happen to Dee. She knows how to handle him when he gets unreasonable because of pregnancy because of her husband. Hell, she doesn't let him give any crap when he's being just plain unreasonable because he's Dee. And she's a tough shit for a woman. Like Diana. Makes you glad we're all on the same side."

Andy was still staring at him, even if he nodded acceptance to Ryo's apology.

"What?" Ryo asked.

"Two shits don't make Andy a happy boy," Ted said, trying not to laugh.

"Would you say then that Andy doesn't give two shits?" Drake asked.

"Andy doesn't give a shit," Diana giggled.

Andy stood up. "I do too! I mean, your bad jokes concern me. I'll be up on the roof."

The door closed behind Andy with force. The others stared at the door for a second, then burst out in laughter.

"Seriously, I didn't realize I said shit," Ryo said. "I mean, I said what I said."

"Twice, Cutie-pie," Diana laughed.

"He threw in a crap for good luck," Drake snickered.

Ted started to open his mouth. Ryo pointed at him. "Don't start again." He looked at his watch. After a heavy sigh, he said. "Okay, I'm going to let Andy simmer down over his smoke while I get myself some more coffee. Then we're off to the morgue and see what this autopsy has to offer."

"Good luck," Drake said. "Honestly, I'm glad it's not just JJ and me anymore."

"Thank you, Drake," Ryo said, giving Drake a mild glare. "See everyone later."

**April 11, 2006**

Ryo stared at Dee, who was sitting on the couch in the den. "Are you serious?" he asked.

Dee nodded his head, his eyes meeting Ryo's. "Yes. I am serious."

"You really want to name the Chibi that?" Ryo studied his husband, saw the firm set of his features. Dee had come to a decision on his own, and Ryo saw a hard time convincing him otherwise. "What about the others we picked out?"

"They're nice. I was tossing around which one I liked best, but then I came across this one. It fits, Ryo. It fits our chibi so much, I can't see her having any other name." His eyes narrowed. "Don't you like it?"

"It's different than what I was expecting we'll name the baby," Ryo sighed. He sat down next to Dee. "I like all the other ones we picked out."

Ever since they found out they were having a baby girl, Ryo and Dee had started to collect names they liked. The day before was their first day off, and they managed to bring the list down to five names that they both liked. All that was needed was to decide on one. The name Ryo was hoping for was Jessica for a first name. Dee was deciding if he also liked the name best. If not, they'd work with the other four.

It was a surprise to Ryo that a few minutes before, Dee tossed out a name to him out of the blue. It threw Ryo because it was so different than the names they selected.

He looked at Dee. "Can't we use that for a middle name?" he asked.

Dee shrugged. "Okay, I understand you didn't see this one coming. Hell, I didn't expect it myself until I saw it. But I think it's perfect for our little girl." Dee leaned closer to brush his lips along Ryo's cheek. "It's perfect for your little girl, Papa," he said.

"Dee," Ryo sighed.

"Think about it for a bit, okay?" Dee asked. "For me? Please?"

"Okay, I'll think about it. But tell me why you think this name is so perfect."

Dee smiled at Ryo, putting an arm around the older man, and pulled him closer. "You really wanna know?" Dee purred.

"Yeah. It would help," Ryo said, fighting to stay his ground, but felt himself rapidly losing to Dee's charms.

"Okay."

Dee kissed the shell of Ryo's ear and started to talk softly, explaining to Ryo all the reasons why he wanted their baby to have that name. When Dee was finished, he lightly kissed Ryo's mouth, before standing up. Dee told Ryo to think about it for a while and went to the kitchen to make them lunch.

When Ryo entered the kitchen after hearing Dee call out that lunch was ready, he smiled at his husband. How could he not give Dee that? Particularly when it was him that Dee had in mind in deciding on that name. Ryo knew Dee's mind was already set, and would probably get stubborn at some point if Ryo said no. However, Ryo was glad Dee made the effort to let it be a mutual decision. Dee's explanation was not only reasonable, but the reason for his wanting their daughter to have that name was beautiful. Too beautiful to say no.

He stood before Dee, who was already sitting at the breakfast bar, his lunch before him, and Ryo's on the placemat before the stool next to him. Dee gazed up with hopeful eyes. Ryo put his arms around Dee's shoulders and kissed him.

"Yes," Ryo said as he broke the kiss. "And thank you. The more I thought about it, the more I understand how it's a gift. But only under one condition."

"What's that?" Dee asked, smiling happily.

"That her middle name is after your mother."

"I think we can do that," Dee replied, before closing the slight distance between their lips for another kiss.

As they at lunch, Ryo glanced over at Dee. "So, are we going to tell the others we have a name?"

Dee shook his head. "We tell and they'll know we're having a girl. I heard Diana tried to pay Bikky off for the information."

Ryo laughed. "I know they'll find out eventually, but it's fun watching everyone squirm waiting to see who got eliminated in the first round."

"When do you think we should tell them?"

"About what we're having? Or the name?"

"Both," Dee replied, and had a sip of his ginger ale.

Ryo laughed. "I say let them find out what we're having when they check out our baby registries."

"That could be weeks," Dee replied. They were planning on going out in the afternoon and start getting more ideas of what they wanted for the nursery. Once they had a theme, they would register with several stores. With the wedding in the past, and a start of their wedding photos online on their website, Dee started to work on a baby website, and put the links to the baby registries on the website.

Ryo laughed again. "Yeah, it could be." He winked at Dee, who chuckled.

"You're a wicked man, Ryo Laytner-MacLean. Dare I ask when you think we should let them know the baby's name? After they figure out it's a girl, at least."

"Of course after we finally let them figure out we're having a girl," Ryo said with a grin. "I say keep it between us until she's born. We announce her name as we introduce her to everyone."

"I like," Dee agreed. "Kinda almost like Japanese tradition. I say let's do it."

"We have a plan then," Ryo said. "Now, since we can't use her name until she's born, we need to come up with a nickname for her. Maybe something we can use between family for when she's a baby? Grandma used to call me RaRa when I was a baby, and even in the last couple of months before I was born. They stopped using it when I turned one."

"Hm. Okay, a nickname. Something to call our chibi. But when it's just you and me, it's perfectly cool to say her name to her while she's still in here, you know."

"Oh, I know. I intend to. C'mon and let's finish up here, so we can start figuring out what we want to do with the nursery."

"You need to finish up," Dee said with a smirk. He pointed down to his plate. "I'm done. But I think I want to take a shower before we go out. So don't rush." He stood, leaning over to kiss Ryo on the way up, and put his dishes into the sink before leaving the kitchen.

April 7, 2006

Dee looked up from his paperwork and sighed. He gazed up at the time and sighed again. Only three hours into the shift, and he was ready to go home. It had been a while since Ryo and Dee worked 2nd shift. Dee was used to at least relaxing on the couch after dinner by that time of the day, if not taking a short nap. The unit decided to split up, alternating between 1st and 2nd shifts, in hopes of finally getting a collar. Dee thought it would be like before, sleep in late, wake up in time to eat and maybe run a few errands and off to work. He wasn't counting on finding himself up in the morning, and going through wallpaper patterns for the nursery. Or going to lay down for a nap a couple of hours before it was time to get ready for work, to discover he was starting to feel the baby move more at those times.

So at 7 o'clock, he found himself wishing it was already 1 am, and the end of the shift. He was certain, baby moving or not, once he hit the bed, he was going to be out through the rest of the night and most of the morning. Another three days of this, before their days off, and returning to day shift for four days, and so the rotation was to go. Dana and Ryo went out to get everyone dinner, while Andy was up on the roof smoking, and most likely sulking.

When Dee and Ryo came in at the start of the shift after having two days off, they discovered that Andy had spent the day before 'organizing' their office, claiming to make it look more official. Ryo shook his head, prepared to make his partner miserable for the shift by calling for him and making him find something that Ryo had known the location of before everything was moved.

Before Ryo had a chance to react, Dee blew a gasket. For five minutes, the pregnant detective went into a storm of blustery and imaginative cursing at the rookie detective, and ended with threatening to send Andy into Chief Smith's office to do him the same favor, and to be in the office when the Chief arrived to work the next day.

Andy was offended, insulted and hurt, and went off in huff to the next office, where he worked quietly on his paperwork. Dee and Ryo noticed he took more breaks to smoke, and stayed longer. He declined Ryo's offer to pick up dinner for him. Dana shook her head, flashing eyes that told the younger detective that he should have listened the day before, before leaving with Ryo, determined to bring back something for him to eat anyway.

Throughout the shift, Ryo tried to talk to him, with no luck. Dee, on the other hand, glared, growled and snorted whenever Andy was in his sight. As Dee sat back in his chair, one hand absently rubbing his growing bump, he took satisfaction that the boy was finally breaking rules by staying up on the roof so long for his -- Dee thought back to the last three hours – fourth break. Fine, he'd let him stay up there as long as he liked. Dee glanced around the office. At least the pile of folders on his desk was the result of his finding them and putting them in the order he preferred.

He heard Dana and Ryo's laughter coming down the hallway before he heard them approach the office door. Dee smiled as they entered, carrying bags of Chinese take-out, realizing he was getting hungry.

Dana left Andy's food on his desk and sat in the office with Ryo and Dee, going over some things. In the last two weekends, the killer did not make the threatened mark of increasing the killed by one, but there were still a few dumps over the time. They figured that only those who were unaware of the website still used it, but the number of potential victims dropped significantly because of the press conference and Dee's interviews. Every day on the news, on every channel, Carriers were reminded of safety practices.

Even if the decrease of dead, there were still too many that lost their lives.

They were almost done with their dinner when the phone on Dee's desk rang. He picked it up, talking into it.

Ryo and Dana paused to stare at Dee as his eyes grew wider, reflecting hope, as he scribbled down notes. Dee tried to get a name and address from the female caller, repeatedly mentioning the $10,000 reward for any tips leading to the arrest of the Carrier Killer, but she remained firm in wanting to stay anonymous. Halfway through the call, Ryo was at his desk, requesting a trace of the call.

Dee stood up as he placed the receiver down.

"Well?" Ryo asked anxiously. "What's going on?"

"Call Chief and the Commissioner," Dee remarked. "I'm going to call JJ and Drake. We might have a good lead."

"Oh God," Dana murmured. "Please, don't let this be another crank call."

"The only problem is we'll need to get in touch with the State Police near Valhalla."

"Valhalla?" Dana remarked.

Ryo looked at the paper Dee wrote on, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, we never really gave much thought to it, but it makes sense. I doubt he could operate within the city. Too crowded. Someone would have heard something."

Dee nodded. "Fits in with several of the victims planning to leave town before they went missing."

"Maybe we should call everyone in?" Dana asked.

"Nah," Ryo replied. "Chief and the Commissioner, for obvious reasons. Drake and JJ, because it's their catch. We have to coordinate with the State Police, possibly get warrants…."

Dana sighed heavily, cutting him off. "In other words, it's going to be a very long night."

"Possible." Ryo's eyes went to Dee, who was already starting to call Drake. "But, when we get into hurry up and wait mode, someone is going to be making use of the futon we have hidden in here."

"If I could relax," Dee remarked, "Hey Drake. JJ with you? Good. Get here ASAP. Yes, we have an address to check out."

Ryo went to his desk to call their superiors, while Dana poked her head in the office to find Andy eating his food.

"Time to stop grumbling, kiddo," she called out. "This might be it!"

Andy almost dropped his carton he ate from, gazing up hopefully. "Really?" he asked, starting to stand up.

"No shit," Dana remarked with a wink.

It was nearing midnight, and the unit was gathered in the squadroom. They were looking over photos sent to them via email from the State Police, who sent out an unmarked unit to the location. In some of the photos of the L-shaped ranch house on a lot was a truck. It was painted white, but they were waiting for Jim to come back with anything that might indicate it was the same truck with a new paint job.

"It looks like someone is getting ready for a long trip, judging from the way that van is loaded," JJ mused, glancing at the photos.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," Dee agreed.

As the detectives discussed the similiarities of shape to the bakery truck of the Pathmark dump, Commissioner Rose was speaking to the State Police, which Chief Smith attempted to get a judge who would hopefully issue them a warrant so they could move out before daylight. Dominic and Diana were already on their way up, to meet with the State police and do their own recon of the area.

Ryo rested his hands on Dee's shoulders. "Dee, look, we're not going anywhere for at least a few more hours. Try to take a nap, please?"

Dee looked up, ready to protest to his husband, but his answer was a resounding yawn. Others around them laughed and Ryo managed to convince Dee to take a nap in their office.

Three am found the unit getting into two vans. Attempts were made to keep Dee behind, but Dee was not hearing it, including any orders from his superiors. It was decided that Dee would stay with the Chief and Commissioner and be the point of contact between the different teams. Ryo and JJ had packed up their sniper gear, just in case those skills were needed.

Five am they arrived at the ranch house in Valhalla. The description Dee was given of a man that was said to be the killer left the house forty-five minutes later, carrying a box to the van.

Once Dee gave the word to all units in the area, everything went fast. Not even a minute later, he heard the sounds of a helicopter approaching the area from where it hovered out of distance. Drake and JJ went up to the man, asking him where he was going. The man dropped his box and tried to make a run for it around the van, to be stopped by Marty and Ted. Diana and Dominic, along with troopers from the State police closed in. Ryo remained in his place, perched on the roof of the second van, aiming, just in case by some weird lark their suspect managed to break free.

The State police took custody of the man, who's name was George. Ryo was called down from his place and joined the others as they entered the house. Dee remained outside, sitting in the front of the van, peering through the windshield, as if hoping to see what was inside the house, as he continued to coordinate between the various teams as a sweep of the house was made.

"Holy Mother," came the horrified exclamation from Dana.

"What?" Dee asked, looking over at Chief Smith.

"It's a damn slaughterhouse in here," she remarked. "God, I think I'm going to be sick. There's blood all over this back room, even if it looks as if attempts to clean it up were made. There's something that looks like a walk-in freezer."

"Bingo!" Dee exclaimed.

"Have Roszinski do us some good and go over there," Chief remarked gruffly.

Dee called for Andy to come out and grab the forensics kit they had and to join Dana. He okayed for Drake and JJ to also join the two, while the others continued to search the house.

Eight am found them finishing up for the moment, the property already closed off as a crime scene. George Walters was currently being booked on suspicion of murder. Rose called everyone to gather outside the vans. Soon after, they were on their way to a local motel where they were to stay for the rest of the day. Local police were to stay at the location.

Despite the action and the celebratory atmosphere on the way to the motels, almost everyone was immediately asleep, Dee among the first, as he lay protectively in Ryo's arms in their room. The only ones who stayed up were those who were in the back room. Drake and JJ tried, but every time they closed their eyes, they saw the room with the rusted brown stains, the dentist chair that was assumed to have been used as an operating table, and the inside of the freezer, with three dead Carriers, cut open on one side of the walk-in unit, and two fetuses and what was considered a stillborn baby haphazardly piled on the other side.

They ended up joining Dana and Andy outside. Dana and JJ watched as Drake and Andy chain smoked, almost tempted to join them. Even better, they were tempted to find something strong to help drink away the visions behind their eyes.

For once, Andy did not protest any swearing that night.

April 12, 2006

Dee felt someone shaking his shoulder, thinking it was too soon to wake up. He tried snuggling further into the covers and his husband's embrace, only to encounter the mattress and sheets. Slowly he turned his head and looked up peering through half open eyes to find it was Ryo attempting to wake him.

"Dee, c'mon. We're checking out and going back to the city."

"What's going on?" Dee asked, sitting up slowly, realizing that in the last week, it was becoming a bit of a struggle to do what was once a simple task. A week and a half shy of six months pregnant and Dee was looking closer to seven. His hips ached and he felt muscles stretch and pull along this abdomen. Ryo helped him into a sitting position. Dee was still too out of it to protest much.

"George wasn't working along. Actually he was an employee of Carriers Inc," Ryo explained.

Dee's eyes opened at that. "What?" he exclaimed.

Ryo handed him a Styrofoam cup, with decaf tea. "Sorry, but that's all they had."

"I'm tempted to try a little coffee right now," Dee remarked, accepting the cup and drank from it. "Now, care to run that by me again?"

"Carriers Inc. is the company George worked for. He's our killer, but not the person who abducted the unsuspecting Carriers under false pretenses. There were others. And the boss lady. They operated out here, but the others live within the city. We're going back, getting some rest and tonight will be more raids, assuming the units on stakeout don't see any movement to indicate anyone leaving the area for good.."

Dee stood up, rubbing his back with one hand and drinking his tea with another. "Holy crap. So we were looking for more than one person?"

"Yeah," Ryo replied, following Dee into the small bathroom.

"And they were cleaning out shop, huh?" he asked, as he set the cup down on the sink and turned on the tap to rinse his face.

"Yup. They were going to make the last of the dumps later tonight, and leave the state tomorrow morning," Ryo explained what he learned from reports of George's confession. "Apparently George is hoping for a plea bargain."

Dee's head whipped around sharply, staring at Ryo. "Please, don't tell me…"

Ryo shook his head. "The Commissioner said to tell him what he wants to hear, but when his arraignment comes, all bets are off." Ryo's dark eyes hardened. "That fucker is the one who killed each and every one of those poor Carriers."

"He admitted to it?" Dee asked.

"He's hoping for a lighter sentence by confessing."

"Please let me be in that courtroom when he finds out otherwise," Dee stated through clenched teeth. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"Go ahead. I'm ready. I figured to let you sleep in a little while I got the rundown. There's some donuts on dresser that I grabbed when I went to get our tea and coffee."

"Thanks."

"I'm going to be outside, talking to the Commissioner. Chief is over at the house, because Jim arrived this morning. He'll meet us back later before we head out to collect the rest of them."

"Hey!" Dee called out as Ryo started to leave the bathroom.

"What?" Ryo asked looking back.

Dee grabbed Ryo by his wrist and pulled him close. "The honeymoon isn't over yet, you know," he said, lightly kissing Ryo.

Ryo chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Just distracted with everything."

"I know."

Ryo caught a catch in the two quiet spoken words and pulled Dee close to him, hugging him. "Dee, as soon as you're ready, we're leaving. We're going home until later this afternoon. I swear when we get home, I'm going to hold you and never let you go until we have to leave to pick up the rest of the trash."

Dee sighed, resting his head against Ryo's. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm glad that it's almost all over, but I guess it still spooks me. Just hearing the details of that room. I don't know if I can handle looking at the photos later."

"I know. I feel the same. We'll worry about that when we get there. For now, just go get ready. The sooner you are, the sooner we leave here. And to be honest, that will make me feel better."

The married couple kissed again, softly, before Ryo squeezed Dee one more time, and left the bathroom.

It was almost midnight when Dee and Ryo walked down the hallway toward the 27th Precinct's interrogation cells. They stopped before the Commissioner.

"I take it everything went okay in your location?" Rose asked, his eyes studying Dee.

Dee shrugged. "I just played radio relay again. We have the delivery boy on his way in."

Ryo nodded his head toward the door Rose stood before. "And we have in there…?"

"The CEO of Carriers Inc. herself," Rose said with a snort. "As soon as JJ and Drake come out, we'll let you two in for a bit. But Dee, watch yourself."

Dee took Ryo's hand and squeezed it. "It's not me that I'm afraid of, but I'll hold him back."

The door opened. They all turned to watch JJ and Drake walk out.

"Anything?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, she wants her lawyer. But also threatened George's life," JJ said.

"Do you have evidence?" Dee asked.

"Oh yeah. They're still going through her apartment over on the Upper East side," Drake assured them.

"We might have more," Rose stated, looking at his men. "When we did a run on her name, guess what came up?"

"I'm not playing 20 questions, Commissioner," Dee grumbled. "I'm tired, I want to get this over with and go to sleep."

Rose smiled at Dee. "If you prefer, you can go home now. You put in enough overtime in the last couple of days. In fact, when you leave, I'm insisting you take tomorrow off and rest, Dee."

"I'm fine," Dee started to protest, and realized there were three sets of eyes on him.

"You're staying home tomorrow, Dee. If we really need you, we'll call. Okay?" Ryo said.

Rose cleared his throat. "Twice you went against my orders, and I let you, Dee. Because I knew what it meant to you, and I trusted you. We have everyone involved with the killings now. It's time for you to stand down some and give you and the baby some rest." He placed his hand on Dee's shoulder. "This time, if you argue against my orders, I'm going to place you on one week suspension. Understood?"

Dee sighed. "Yes, Commissioner."

"Good. Now go in there and see what you can get from her."

Taylor McFadden drummed her fingers against the table in the room. She was aware that she might be looked in on from the one way mirror along one of the walls. Damn that George, she thought. They were almost home free. They were to wake up early the next day and start driving to Canada, where she planned to settle down and eventually set up shop again. She had no idea who her benefactor was, but suddenly she realized she had made two major mistakes when she decided to start Carriers Inc in New York City. First was allowing him to pay her for doing what she planned all along. She ended up saying yes, so her own inheritance would remain untouched, while she had the money needed to set up her operation to kill Carriers. The second mistake was telling the strange voice on the phone that she was leaving the country come the next day. She suspected he had something to do with George's arrest. If she ever found herself alone with that sniveling bastard, blood would finally be on her hands, because she swore to kill George Walters herself.

The door opened and her eyes widened as two familiar detectives entered the room. The Carrier and his partner-turned-father of his baby-and husband. Her eyes fixed on the tall dark haired detective as he removed his jacket and placed it on the empty chair. He stretched, a hand behind his back and rubbed, making the swell of that monster bump project out a little more, in her direction.

"Good evening, Ms. McFadden," Dee started, hard green eyes meeting hers. "Before we go any further, you should know that your lawyer has been contacted and has declined to represent you. So, should you have a name of another lawyer, you could give us the name and we'll make sure she or he will be contacted. Otherwise, you have a right to council provided by the state." He sneered at her. "Apparently not even the sharks want to represent you, so you might have some trouble, ma'am."

Taylor frowned, her long fingernails tapping against the table. She lifted one manicured hand, showing Dee her fingers. "See this? No blood on these hands. I did not kill those men."

"No. But you directed George to kill," Ryo spoke up. "He was employed by you, and your company Carriers Inc, was to lure in Carriers to kill them. You will not walk away a free woman." He leaned his hands flat on the table top before him and his dark dangerous eyes met the icy blue of the woman before him. "What made you do it, Ms. McFadden?"

"I have nothing to say."

Dee sighed, a hand now on his swell and rubbing in circles, attempting to calm the moving baby within. "You talk, we are willing to consider a reduced sentence."

"If I'm found guilty."

"Ms. McFadden, please," Ryo snapped annoyed. "George already signed his confession, and what he had to say incriminates you. Sal and Dave have agreed to sign confessions too. They are speaking right now. So, we pretty much already know what Carriers Inc. did. What we want to know is why did you start this?"

Her steel blue eyes settled on Dee and the baby swell. Her eyes grew storm and her face contorted in anger. "Because it's not right!" she yelled out. Pointing a finger at Dee, she continued, "You have NO RIGHT having babies. Men shouldn't. Women should. And you have a nerve to dare bring a baby into this world when there are women who cannot bare children!!!!" She dropped back in her chair and covered her face, starting to sob.

Inside Rose's office, Dee sat down, drinking a mug of tea that the Commissioner made. Dana sat next to Dee. Inside the interrogation room, the cameraman arrived, so Taylor McFadden's testimony and confession could be videotaped, while Ryo, Drake and JJ carried on the questioning.

"What made her talk suddenly?" Rose asked.

Dee smirked. "It's been a long two days for me, sir. My back is killing me, the baby won't stay still, and I'm afraid to look down at my ankles when I get home." He sighed. "I guess she lost it when I was subconsciously rubbing my back or trying to calm the baby. She just started to rant at me, like it was my fault she couldn't conceive."

Dana looked at Dee sharply. "That's it? That's why all those poor men died? Because she couldn't have children of her own?"

Dee nodded.

"This has been festering for at least a year and a half," Rose spoke up, pushing a folder toward Dee and Dana. "When we did a run on her name, this came up."

Dee and Dana read the folder together. "Holy shit," Dee muttered, looking up at Rose. "So her husband went missing in Hartford after he announced that he was pregnant?"

"Do you think she killed him?" Dana asked.

"It was a closed case not long after his body was found in a wooded area near Waterbury three weeks after she reported him missing," Rose explained. "If you ask me, when the autopsy came back revealing he was pregnant, the local police closed the case and she moved."

Dee nodded. "Neighbors testimony state that they had been trying to get her pregnant with no luck. Her and her husband became estranged. They lived in the same house, but lived separate lives." He smirked, reading on. "Hubby was bisexual. So he went out and accidentally got himself pregnant by some dude he was seeing on the side."

Dana whistled. "Not that I can say she was justified in what she did, but I guess that was a slap in her face." She sat back and smiled at Dee. "Too bad she just couldn't accept that her husband was a Carrier and let him Carry their children."

"Yeah. Instead, she goes off the deep end and goes on a killing spree," Dee replied.

"Nothing like a woman's scorn," Rose recited.

Two heads nodded and Dee had another sip of his tea. As he set the mug down, he frowned. "What worries me is she might attempt to plead insanity."

"If she does, we'll make sure she ends up in a high security facility. But we'll do what we can to prevent that from happening," Rose assured him.

There was a knock and the door opened slightly. "Sir?" Ryo asked, poking his head in.

"Come in, Ryo. I trust the interview is over?" Rose asked.

Dee looked up at Ryo.

Ryo nodded as he entered the office. "Yes, sir. It's done. Drake and JJ are taking her to Central Booking now. And with your permission, I'd like to take Dee home now."

"Of course," Rose stated. "In fact, I want not only Dee off tomorrow, but everyone who is still here right now. And that's an order."

Dana stood up, holding her hand down to help Dee up. "Thank you, sir. My husband will appreciate it. He's been seeing less of me this last week. And I'm starting to miss him too." She sighed heavily as Dee stood up. "I can't believe it," she exclaimed, hugging Dee. "It's over!"

Dee hugged her back, laughing. "Yes. Yes, it is. It's safe for your husband to go out and about now."

He felt Ryo's hand rubbing his lower back. "And for you, too, Dee," Ryo replied softly. "Dammit. It really is over."

"Yes, it is. And we'll do everything to make sure they stay off the streets for decades. Now everyone get out of here, and I'll see you day after tomorrow. Keep with the schedule already planned for a few rotations," Rose stated.

"Thank you, Commissioner," Dee said with a grin. "I'm not going to argue either. I could sleep all through tomorrow."

"Then do that," Ryo said, taking Dee's hand.

"I'll give you two a drive home. I'll just get into the Battery Tunnel from your place," Dana offered.

"It's a deal, partner," Dee said, as Ryo started for the door, pulling Dee along. Dana followed the handsome married couple, waving to the Commissioner as they left.


End file.
